


Letters and Numbers

by KissTheDream



Category: B.A.P, VIXX
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Comedy, Crack, Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Humor, M/M, Male Friendship, Original Universe, Other, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Supernatural Elements, Video Game, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-14
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-03-30 11:02:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 23,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3934378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KissTheDream/pseuds/KissTheDream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the very last day of summer vacation and all Hyuk really wants to do is play video games with his friends at the arcade.<br/>Getting stuck in alternate reality is NOT a part of his plan.<br/>(If he'd known, he'd have packed a sandwich. Or three.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Major Malfunction

* * * * *

 

“HAN SANGHYUK! IF YOU DON’T COME DOWN AT ONCE THERE WILL BE NO BREAKFAST FOR YOU!”

Only then did Hyuk groan and open his eyes, frowning at the piercing sunlight pouring through the open window. It was his very last day of summer vacation – but that wasn’t the only reason it was special.

Thundering down the staircase, Hyuk quickly greeted his mother before sprinting to the door, almost forgetting to actually pull on his sneakers.

“Hyukie… aren’t you going to eat?” asked the woman, eyebrows twitching in confusion and worry. Sanghyuk had never, in his entire life, skipped breakfast. (Or any other meal, for that matter.) No matter how late he was for school or how much his friends called him to come out and play, Hyuk would always stuff himself before taking a single step out of the house.

“Sorry mom, gotta go!” called Hyuk as he ran out, leaving his mother to stare after him with eyes as wide as the sprinkled donuts she was holding.

The small town was practically deserted. The few passers-by carefully looked Hyuk over, probably wondering if there was a fire somewhere or a tsunami approaching, since Hyuk was running as though chased by lions, taking shortcuts through people’s back yards and jumping across wooden fences.

When, at long last, Hyuk had arrived at his destination and kicked open the rusty metal door, he was met with a loud scream and the _thud_ of a body crashing into his own.

“HYUKIE IT’S HERE! IT’S HERE IT’S HERE IT’S HERE!!!”

When Jackson had sufficiently calmed down, Hyuk managed to shove him away (which was quite difficult, since Jackson, even though much younger, was in the basketball team and was quite strong and athletic). But no sooner had Hyuk got rid of Jackson than more familiar faces approached him.

Sungjong had his delicate eyebrows knitted together in distress. Kyuhyun had a stubborn look on his face, and Changmin was just plain furious.

“Where is it?” asked Hyuk, since no one wanted to talk first. Obviously something was very wrong.

“We can’t get it to work.” Sungjong finally confessed with a sigh. “Kyu swore he knew how to turn it on, but he lied.” Sungjong cast a sideways glance at Kyuhyun.

“DID NOT!” yelled Kyuhyun with a barely noticeable pout. “I know how to set it up. I just don’t know why it didn’t respond!”

“You’re so full of shit,” blurted Jackson before he could stop himself, and Kyuhyun promptly kicked him in the thigh, continuing to sulk.

Hyuk took a look around. The game room was the same as it had always been – posters of superheros, flashing lights from the game machines and junky snacks stacked up on a shelf in the back. There were damp patches on the floor where the roof was leaking, and every few days or so Hyuk would accidentally slip on them and fall flat on his butt (much to his friends’ amusement). The only thing different about the game room that day was the absence of its owner.

“Hey, where the hell is Mr. Jung?!”

“What, you haven’t seen him either?” asked Changmin, the oldest of the boys. He looked so angry Hyuk thought he would start screaming and throwing a tantrum at any moment, as if he’s not fifteen, but four. Hyuk had never seen him so on edge – the oldest boy was typically cool and composed.

“Maybe he’s out to buy drinks? Or he passed out in the street somewhere?” wondered Hyuk out loud, trying to find a logical solution to their problem. The owner of the game room, Mr. Jung, was drunk at any given time. Usually he’d sit in the battered old sofa in the back, cursing the boys for being loud and chugging his umpteenth bottle of cheap soju.

“Dude, we combed through the entire town!” said Kyu, flailing his hands around as if to emphasize his point.

“We’ve checked his house _and_ the supermarket.” said Changmin. “He’s not there.”

“Maybe he’s gone to hell, like mom said old drunkards do.” murmured Jackson in a hushed voice.

Sungjong whined loudly at that. “Well, we don’t have to time to go all the way to _hell_ and look for him! I wanna play at least one round before school starts tomorrow!”

Hyuk glanced at Sungjong, surprised. As much as he liked hanging out with Sungjong and Jackson, sometimes the fact they were quite a bit younger made him unable to understand them at all.

“You know where hell is?” asked Changmin, voicing Hyuk’s thoughts.

“Yup,” answered Sungjong casually. “Detroit. You can get there by plane.”

That’s when Hyuk decided to change the subject.

“… Can _I_ try to turn on the game machine?”

 “Yeah, Hyuk should give it a shot.” agreed Sungjong. “You _are_ the best gamer out of us five, you know.”

Hyuk couldn’t help but swell with pride. Smirking, Changmin raised an eyebrow at Sungjong.

“Okay, ” chuckled Sungjong, “ _second_ best. But I really think you’ll beat Changmin hyung…  in a year or two.”

Hyuk decided to ignore the bickering (and his own wounded pride) and focus on the problem at hand. (Even though he was highly tempted to _casually_ mention his high score from last weekend, which was, Hyuk was convinced, _much_ better than Changmin’s.)

“Okay, I’m gonna try to get it to turn on.”

Most of the boys nodded at once. But there was one person who was not pleased at all.

“No, you can’t!” protested Kyuhyun.

“What? Why not?” Hyuk spat back, getting annoyed.

“You’ll break it.” said Kyuhyun coldly.

“No, I won’t!”

“Forget it. You’re stupid, you’ll fuck something up! ”

“Then try and stop me!” retorted Hyuk as he strode towards the back of the room. As soon as he neared the bottom wall, he slowed down his steps, mouth opened in silent admiration.

The game machine was brand new, blue, red and golden, with bright drawings on the bottom and the sides. There was a dragon, a robot, a princess, a guy with a golden machinegun instead of an arm, a fierce ninja with a katana, a pair of twins with wizard hats, a dark warrior with a greatsword, and a human-like shadow standing behind them all.

But Hyuk couldn’t afford to stand and stare for long. Kyuhyun was getting up after he’d slipped on a puddle and continued to run after him. Mustering all his concentration, Hyuk looked carefully at the buttons on the game machine. Which one should he press?

However, before he could decide Kyuhyun was already on him, trying to pull him away from the machine by his bright orange shirt. It didn’t help that Kyuhyun was a year older and that Hyuk was just a scrawny kid who liked video games better than sports.

“Yah, get away from me! You failed, so let me try!!” yelled Hyuk, knowing it won’t do him any good.

The rest of the boys caught up, and half were pulling on Kyuhyun, half on Hyuk, in a messy attempt to separate them. Sungjong was screaming something on the top of his lungs, but Hyuk’s ears were pounding, downing out the sound.

He remembered Kyuhyun elbowing Changmin in the stomach, and all of them somehow tumbling towards the machine. He remembered the cold touch of metal, Kyu biting his left arm, Jackson crying and screaming at them to stop.

Just when it looked like Kyuhyun was about to give up, Hyuk felt his own elbow crash into the machine, pushing a large blue, red and yellow button that was kinda shaped like a robot’s head.

The machine buzzed, all of the buttons lit up, and Hyuk hardly managed to prevent himself from screaming when he saw what was happening on the screen.

_Player: Han Sanghyuk (Hyuk)._

Beneath the words, his own face stared back at him. When he blinked, the image blinked back; when he moved his head, so did the Hyuk on screen.

“Guys! GUYS!!!” Sungjong yelled over Kyuhyun’s grunts, Jackson’s sobbing and Changmin’s serious voice. “Guys, Hyuk did it! He really did it!!!“ Sungjong didn’t seem to notice the screen, cheering at the flashing buttons instead.

That was the last thing Hyuk heard before everything went black.

 

* * * * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KissTheDream: Find me on AFF for more fanfics: http://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view_author_stories/170730/L


	2. Princess Hakyeon Has A Huge Forehead

* * * * *

 

Blinking at the bright colours, Hyuk opened his eyes.

Everything around him, from the trees and the sky to the castle before him, was in strong fluorescent shades. How long he had been unconscious, he had no way of knowing. Minutes passed one after another while Hyuk struggled to adjust his eyes – but his vision was still a blur. There was a heavy pulsing in his head, as though someone was hitting it with a hammer over and over again.

“ Uhh… Where am I?”

“I wonder that too, sometimes.”

Suddenly Hyuk felt wide awake, even panicked. He searched his surroundings for the source of the voice - but there was no one there.

“ …What?” muttered Hyuk into the air.

“ I mean, you could, of course, always answer that you are _somewhere_.” continued the voice, unperturbed. “But there’s a little problem with that. _Somewhere_ implies that you are at a place in physical space. No one said anything about _virtual_ space. So, sadly, I think that we are both _nowher_ e.”

Hyuk really, really didn’t know what to make of that.

“…Excuse me?! What the hell do you mean by that??”

“Already in rage mode, and didn’t even finish the tutorial?”

At that moment, right next to him, a boy appeared. For the most part, he looked like a regular boy he might meet in school or in the game room.

“Hyuk, please relax. It’s just a game.”

Instinctively, Hyuk jerked away from the stranger. Something about a person _appearing out of thin air_ made him distrustful. “A… game? And who are you, anyway?

The other boy blinked, as if something had just snapped within his head. He suddenly started to shout.

“We don’t have time! Princess Hakyeon is in grave danger! You have to go save her!

Hyuk stared at him, confused. “What kind of cliché storyline is that?!”

“Cliché or not, you have to save your lovely Hakyeon!”

“ _My_ lovely Hakyeon?!”

“Yes! She promised her forehead to whichever brave hero rescues her!”

“ ... You mean, she promised her _hand_ , right?”

“Details are unimportant, let your courage guide you!”

By now Hyuk was getting more than a little annoyed. He had no idea where he was or how he got there, but all the other boy did was confuse him. “That’s the most useless advice I’ve ever heard. Will you tell me what’s going on??”

“Oh wait, I almost forgot! Take this item!”

Something small and fluffy landed right in Hyuk’s lap.

“A... Chopper doll?”

“ When the time comes, its magical power will aid you!”

At that very moment, a song started to play - a soothing male voice that seemed to be coming from the sky itself. Once again, the other boy blinked, and as if someone had pressed a button, something changed within his eyes.

“PARK HYOSHIN-NIM!!!” he screamed, beyond himself with happiness, and began to run towards the castle.

“What? Hey, wait!!!”

Bolting after the mysterious boy, Hyuk suddenly felt something beyond strange. No matter how fast he ran, the other boy was always a step ahead. When he tried to run faster, so would the boy. If he slowed down, the boy would, too. It was like the stranger was _programmed_ to be uncatchable.

The castle door slammed shut right in Hyuk’s face.

“Great… now what?”

With nothing else to do, Hyuk took a better look around. Now he could see much clearer – but what he saw was…

Impossible. Simply impossible.

On closer inspection, the trees around him weren’t really _trees_. They had no leaves – only green squares, green _pixels_ , above an equally pixelised trunk. The castle was a huge system of grey blocks, the clouds were squares of white on an even blue background.

And there was something ever stranger.

Whenever he looked, a bright green line would appear in the lower right corner of his vision.

When he looked up, the green line would be in the sky. When he looked down, it would be on the ground – but always in the bottom right corner.

“A… A… A HEALTH BAR???”

No one seemed to hear his shout. The only sound was the birds singing. Expect Hyuk couldn’t see a single bird anywhere, and when he paid attention, he noticed the sound was actually repeating itself incessantly.

“No way. There’s just no way.” To whom Hyuk was talking to, even he didn’t know. “This must be a dream, or…”

Suddenly his head felt dizzy again. Leaning onto one of the pixelised trees, he waited for the headache to pass.

The silence around him was deafening. He was completely alone.

All of a sudden, everything came back to him – the new machine in the game room, his fight with Kyuhyun, his own elbow accidentally pressing the robot-shaped button, the moving mirror image of himself on the screen.

“KYUHYUN!!!” he screamed into the air. The birds chippered relentlessly, the same exact melody over and over again. “KYUHYUN, YOU BASTARD! WHERE ARE YOU?!” Something wet was on his cheeks. “CHANGMIN! SUNGJONG! JACKSON!!!”

Hyuk brought his hands to his face to wipe his tears away, but they just kept coming, sliding down his cheeks and chin.

And when he caught one on his palm, he saw it wasn’t a tear anymore.

It was just a light blue sqaure. A _pixel_.

 

* * * * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KIssTheDream: As you may have guessed, this story was inspired by Vixx's "Rock Ur Body" MV.


	3. Yo, Stranger

 

* * * * *

 

No matter how long Hyuk sat there beneath the tree, night wouldn’t fall. It must’ve been hours, and yet, the sky remained a defiant blue.

Stranger still was what was happening to Hyuk’s body. Or, rather, what _was not_ happening. Ever since he had arrived in the deserted castle yard, Hyuk did not feel either hungry or thirsty.

When the initial shock had passed, Hyuk was faced with a choice. He could cry there under the pixelised tree until, hopefully, Mr Jung returns to the game room and gets him out of the machine he seemed to had, miraculously, trapped himself in. But if Hyuk had learned anything from his experience in games, it was that waiting doesn’t get you anywhere. It can only get you killed. On the other hand, Hyuk could get up and look for an exit himself. Jumping to his feet, Hyuk took a long breath. He felt strangely composed.

After all, games were his thing.

First of all, he took a tour of the caste yard, only to find… nothing. Secretly, he had been hoping for treasure boxes that would contain helpful items ( _really_ helpful items, like potions and ethers - not Chopper dolls!) but to no avail.

When he touched the castle door, he let out such a scream that his ears started ringing.

Over his eyes, just for a few seconds, there was a blue square with a message, right in the middle of his vision.

“Area locked. Please level up to Level 20 or above.”

“Aish!!! Stop messing with my eyes!!!” yelled Hyuk at no one in particular. Annoyed, he tried to swat his health bar away, but it had become a permanent part of his vision. Wherever he looked, the green line was there, right in the bottom right corner.

Hyuk had only one more option.

He knocked on the gates that let out of the yard and into the woods beyond.

Thankfully, no message popped up this time. As though by magic, the heavy wooden gates, many times taller than Hyuk, swung gracefully outwards.

With nothing but a Chopper doll, Hyuk stepped out into the woodlands.

Unlike the castle yard, the woods seemed to be an area where it was always night. Black as can be, the sky was dotted with small yellow squares, which Hyuk supposed were stars. A quiet, eerie tune played, added to the shrieks of some large bird. Despite himself, Hyuk shivered, the hairs at the back of his head standing on end. He clutched the Chopper doll to his chest, as it was his only weapon.

Without a doubt, being _inside_ a game was much scarier than just playing one in the game room.

“Yo, stranger.”

 

* * * * *


	4. He's Got A F*cking Gun

*** * * * ***

 

“Yo, stranger.”

Freezing, Hyuk frantically scanned his surroundings, but saw no one. His nails were digging into the soft fabric of the Chopper doll.

“W-Who are you?” stuttered Hyuk. If only he had a weapon, or magic, or…

“You ready, punk?” continued the voice, totally ignoring Hyuk’s question. Somewhere behind him, Hyuk heard a metallic _click-click_ sound, which could only be…

“HE’S GOT A F*CKIN GUN!!!” yelled Hyuk uselessly, before throwing himself on the ground. And he did so just in time – the bullets flew just past his head, leaving steaming holes in the tree behind him.

“Ya can’t hide from me, punk.” growled the voice, low and masculine. The ground was practically shaking under the stranger’s footsteps. “Stop squirming there like a worm and fight like a man!”

Trembling like he’d been splashed with ice, Hyuk desperately tried to make his Chopper release the “power” it was supposed to have. But to his avail, there were no buttons on the doll, and nothing out of the ordinary about it at all. Squeezing poor Chopper didn’t work either. It looked like the Chopper doll was just that – an ordinary Chopper plushie. Good for cuddling with on a cold night – but obviously useless in combat.

“I- I FLEE! I- I _can_ flee from battles in this game, r-right?”

Finally, the strange warrior emerged from the trees. His shape was just a silhouette in night, but even so, Hyuk could make out his thick, muscular forearms. But one of his hands, starting from the elbow, did not look like a hand at all…

“That’s sooooo cool…” muttered Hyuk.

For a moment, there was a stunned silence. Perhaps it was Hyuk’s imagination, but he thought he could glimpse the stranger’s eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

In a matter of seconds, the unknown character was right next to him. A metal sound near his ear signalled that the gun was ready to fire.

“Say what, punk?” growled the stranger.

Something near insanity had taken over Hyuk. Perhaps it was because none of this, starting from his surroundings, his health bar, his Chopper doll, all the way to this person he was supposed to fight – not one bit of it seemed real.

“Your gun-arm. It’s the most badass thing I’ve ever seen.”

Gun-arm still against Hyuk’s forehead, the fighter straddled Hyuk’s hips.

Only now could Hyuk see him clearly. The left side of his head was shaved, but there was a huge, bright red fringe that covered his forehead and went to the right. He wore some kind of odd military one-piece. On his ears there were tiny earrings with a white star on them, and a spiked golden bracelet on his arm - the one that wasn’t about to shoot Hyuk in the head.

“Say what, punk?”

Hyuk giggled loudly, and even his opponent seemed baffled. It seemed that Hyuk had finally snapped.

“Okay, okay, I take that back!” said Hyuk between giggles. “ _You_ are the most badass thing I’ve ever seen- OWW!!!”

“Ya’re trying to flatter me so I’d let ya go, aren’t cha, punk?” The metal point of the gun-arm was digging into Hyuk’s head, scraping his skin. “I’m sorry, kid.” said the stranger. “But I can’t let you get Hakyeon before me! HER FOREHEAD IS MINE!”

“Wha- WAIT!” yelped Hyuk.

“… What now? You lost, kid.” said the deep voice exasperatedly. Almost lazily, he angled the gun differently, still pressed against Hyuk’s skull.

“I- I’m not here for her forehead”, began Hyuk, amazed at the fact he mustered enough sanity to speak, “In fact, I don’t want _anyone_ ’s forehead right now.”

If anything, the warrior looked truly lost. “But why else would you be here?” Suddenly his eyes narrowed. “Are you messin with me _again_ , kid?!”

“N-NO!” shouted Hyuk for deal life. “I really, really couldn’t care less about, uh, princess whats-her-face _or_ her forehead.” Hyuk took a long, shaky sigh. “I just want to go home.” Without even noticing it, he was crying again. “I miss my friends. It – it’s _scary_ here.” Hyuk confessed. “Not at all like playing in the game room.”

Suddenly, the weight of the gun-arm against his head was gone. Before he knew it, he was pulled from the ground into a sitting position, and wrapped into a tight hug.

“…Whaaat…” he murmured into the stranger’s shoulder. This game was getting stranger and stranger.

“Poor little kid,” whispered the deep voice into his hair. Perhaps Hyuk was hearing things, or the warrior sounded as though he was on the verge of tears himself. “Poor, poor kid. I’ll get ya someplace safe, don’t ya worry. You’re safe with me and ma gun.”

“O-okay…” stuttered Hyuk, trying to process the fact that he was still alive. Even his health bar was intact.

Finally, the stranger pulled away, still sitting on top of Hyuk. It was hard to tell in the night, but his cheeks seemed a little flushed.

“I mean, uh, yeah. I can get ya back to town if ya want.” he said, dusting the dirt off his uniform. “Punk.” He extended a hand to help Hyuk get up. “Name’s Ravi.”

“You’re not still suspicious of me?”

The fighter started laughing, a giggle that didn’t match his appearance at all. “Sorry, kid, but I don’t think you stand a chance against me, even if you trick me.”

“Yeah, I really don’t.” confessed Hyuk. Some games he was great at, at others he was only average – but this was the first game Hyuk really sucked at. And he didn’t like the feeling at all. He could almost see Kyuhyun sneering at him, and Changmin’s victorious smirk.

“Don’t be down, kid. I’ll get ya to town in no time!” encouraged Ravi, dropping a hand onto Hyuk’s shoulder. He winked. “Just follow me.”

 

*** * * * ***


	5. Points For Trying

A few hours later, the two were still walking through the woods. As ever, the sky was black, but the odd shadows under the trees and the creepy repetitive music didn’t frighten Hyuk as much as they used to. With his muscles and the extra weight of his gun-arm, Ravi couldn’t walk very fast, which gave Hyuk time to try and get some answers.

“Hey Ravi. Can I pause this game sometimes? Is there a pause button?”

Ravi just stared at him blankly.

“Okay… How about a quit button?” suggested Hyuk. “Or an exit? Is there an exit? And what do I have to do to get to it?”

The boy with the gun-arm just walked beside him in silence.

“Do you hear the music playing?” Hyuk asked, suddenly curious. “Like, right now. A really creepy tune. It goes like bam, ba-bam, ba-bam…” 

“You’re a weird kid, you know that?”

That hit something within Hyuk. In his game room, Hyuk was a cool kid whose high scores were second only to Changmin’s. But at home, at school - or anywhere else for that matter - Hyuk was just a weirdo, a game-freak, an outcast.

“Sorry,” muttered Ravi. “Didn’t intend to wake them bad memories.”

“It’s okay,” replied Hyuk. After all, the kids at the game room liked him. Even Kyuhyun wasn’t really his enemy. And now, Hyuk seemed to have gained a new friend.

Walking through the woods, Hyuk watched Ravi out of the corner of his eye. During the past hours, he had learned a little bit about the boy – that he was a little awkward, and that he was not exactly the smartest person ever. But he seemed nice enough, and his laugh was – there’s no other word for it –cute.

But was he a game character? Or was he, like Hyuk, a person who had pushed the wrong button on a machine, and got sucked into this strange game?

Shaking his head, Hyuk tried to shake away that thought as well. Right now, he had more urgent issues. He decided to change the subject.

“So, uh, who is this princess Hakyeon everyone’s talking about?”

Suddenly, Ravi stopped in his tracks. His smile was a little strange – half-amused, half-confused, as though he was sure Hyuk was messing around, but couldn’t quite get the joke.

“Who is princess Hakyeon?” repeated Ravi, still smiling. “I admit, kid, I don’t know that one. So, what’s the answer?”

“I’m not joking!” said Hyuk, but Ravi wouldn’t stop grinning. “Really! I have no idea who this forehead princess is!”

Smile falling of his face, Ravi stared at him incredulously. Hyuk suddenly wished he hadn’t said anything.

“Okay,” said Ravi, eyes boring into Hyuk as though he was an especially difficult puzzle. “Well,” started Ravi, taking a sideways glance at Hyuk, “Hakyeon is, like, our princess. The only child of the king and the queen.”

“Yeah.”

“And she’s, well, in danger.”

“I know that, too. The tutorial dude told me.”

“… Say what, kid?”

“Never mind.”

“Okay, well, she’s beautiful. Like, really beautiful. Like a goddess or something.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured – wait a second!”

Hyuk suddenly halted, staring at Ravi, who had a strange mischievous smile playing on his lips.

“Did you, like... make out with her or what?!” asked Hyuk, bewildered. What kind of game was this?

Ravi only continued to grin at the sky above, hands behind his head.

“Yah, I know you can hear me! Did you hook up with the freakin princess?!”

Still refusing to answer, Ravi started whistling, face practically shining with pride. Finally, he cleared his throat.

“Ahem. I may or may not have – accidentally – stumbled into her chambers once or twice.”

“And tripped over your feet and fell into her bed?” suggested Hyuk, now laughing himself.

“Yeah, something like that.” admitted Ravi, grinning like an idiot. “It was amazing.”

The woods were still and quiet while the two continued their journey, but the silence was no longer awkward. “She has the most beautiful forehead I’ve even seen.” confessed Ravi, whispering. “Tall and shiny like the moon.” His eyes were dreamy.

“Sounds like you truly love her.”

“Y-yeah. I do.” A splash of red appeared on Ravi’s cheeks, almost as red as his hair. “More than anything.”

It was a few minutes (or hours? In this place, it was hard to be sure) before Hyuk remembered his Chopper doll.

“Oh, I almost forgot! Do you know what this is?”

Reluctantly, Ravi took the plushie. He looked almost comical, tall and muscular as he was, holding a plushie in his huge hands. “Uh, a toy? I used to have a similar one when I was a kid.”

“It’s supposed to have powers – huh?!”

At the word “powers”, Ravi’s face suddenly contracted into an expression of pure terror. He threw the doll back at Hyuk as though it was about to explode.

“Ravi, look, it doesn’t do anything,” reassured Hyuk, lightly squeezing Chopper. It was incredibly difficult to comprehend that Ravi, the boy with the gun-arm, the coolest dude Hyuk had ever seen, was afraid of a plushie. “No matter what I do, nothing happens. That’s why I asked you.”

It took a while for Ravi to speak.

“As for me, that thing is just a toy.” He threw a suspicious glance at it. “But when I think of them wizards… A guy can never be sure a thing is safe. They could’ve done something with it, I guess.”

“Apparently, I’m supposed to use it as some kind of weapon…” muttered Hyuk, disappointed. His only hope was now all but shattered. “Unless I misunderstood something?”

“I dunno,” said Ravi, “but I wouldn’t mess with it.”

“Why?”

Ravi lifted his gun, checking the gears at his elbow. “I don’t like magic,” he confessed, fiddling with his gun-arm. “Swords and guns I can handle. I can even fix up a poison for ya. But magic…” He frowned deeply. “That thing is weird.” But then, his expression brightened, and he let out a small chuckle. “Even weirder than you.”

Quickly, Hyuk picked up a stray branch off the ground (which was nothing more than a few brown pixels) and flung it in Ravi’s direction. Laughing, Ravi swat it away with ease using his gun-arm.

“Kid, ya know ya don’t have a chance against me,” he chuckled.

“But I get points for trying, right?”

“Yeah.” said Ravi. “Guess ya do.”

There was a fond gleam in his eyes, a gleam that shone brightly through the night.

At long last, the village was in sight. A few brick-red rooftops poked their heads behind a gentle hill.

Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but Hyuk thought he saw a thin trail of smoke coming from one of the rooftops. Hyuk wasn’t cold – during the entire time he’d been inside this game, Hyuk hadn’t felt either coldness or warmth. But rather, it was the feeling of being at home that Hyuk missed, a feeling most strongly felt in front of a fireplace.

“This place, it’s my hometown,” said Ravi, eyes distant.

“So I better not say anything bad about it, right?” mocked Hyuk, grinning.

At that, Ravi couldn’t help but to smile too. “Yup, don’t mock it. It’s ma turf.”

“Got it.” said Hyuk, as they conquered the last of the hill and entered the small village.

As it turned out, the place wasn’t much more than a few houses scattered around the neighbouring hills, with most of them clustered in the shallow valley in the middle. Just like everything else, the houses were made of blurry blocks, brown and green and vibrant yellow, with a red rooftop each.

Just like Hyuk had seen from afar, a steady line of smoke was coming out of the biggest house in the village.

“That’s the inn, kid,” said Ravi. “Rent a room there, but tell them I sent ya. Sometimes they give shitty rooms if they don’t know ya.” About to leave, Ravi suddenly remembered another thing. His eyes grew wide. “Right, where are you from, anyways? I mean, after you get some rest and stuff, will ya be able to find your village from here?”

Hyuk prayed to all the gods he’d ever heard of that his face didn’t show how uncomfortable he was. Something was telling him not to tell Ravi anything about how he had once pressed the wrong button on a machine and ended up in this world. Because, if Ravi was truly just a game character, how would he react to the fact that his whole existence was just a few lines of programming code?

That thought opened more questions than Hyuk could deal with – and each of them more disturbing than the last. A change of subject was needed, and fast.

“I, uh… I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you.” stuttered Hyuk the first thing that came to his mind. It wasn’t a lie, though. “I mean, you didn’t say anything about it, but you stopped your search for that forehead princess to help me, didn’t you?” continued Hyuk. “So, thank you. Really.”

To his relief, Ravi didn’t notice the hint of panic in Hyuk’s voice. For once, Hyuk was thankful that Ravi wasn’t all that smart.

“Hey, no problem, kid.” He threw a hand over Hyuk’s shoulders, grinning. “Just don’t start crying again, ‘kay?”

Pretending to be angry, he pushed Ravi away, only to earn a laugh from him.

“I’m gonna be at ma house, in case you need anything.” said Ravi. “It’s right at the end of that street. Big, ugly, yellow thing, you can’t miss it.” He pointed to their left, where a cobblestone path twisted and turned between houses, ascending right to the top of the hill.

“See ya ‘round!” said Ravi, winking. Without further ado, he disappeared into the narrow street.


	6. Let's See What You're Made Of

The village seemed to be neither a day-only nor a night-only area of the game, but a place that was eternally at dusk. The red, pixelised blur that was, supposedly, the sun, seemed to be stuck in the exact same place, halfway dipped into the horizon, no matter how long Hyuk stared at it.

With nothing else to do, Hyuk decided to brave the inn. Trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, he pushed past the creaking door and into the large room inside.

The floor, the ceiling and all the walls were a light, creamy brown. Hyuk could only guess the colour was supposed to represent wood. Only a few customers were there, seated around brown-yellow squares that were probably meant to be tables. A few clutched little blocks of yellow that were white about one quarter from the top. Every so often they would raise them to their mouths. How exactly anyone could drink a pixelised beer, baffled Hyuk to no end. How would that taste like? Does it even have a taste?

“Yo, kid.” said a deep, growly voice, just as deep as Ravi’s. Its owner lazily draped a hand over Hyuk’s shoulders. “You got money on ya, kid? ‘Cause we don’t hand out beer for free, we don’t.”

“I-I-I want to, uh, rent a room-” That’s when it finally dawned on Hyuk. He had no money.

Searching his pockets, all he found was about five hundred won that he had been saving for the game room. But would real money work inside a game?

The unknown man narrowed his eyes at him. The countless chains around his neck glistened in the dusk.

“W-will this be okay?” asked Hyuk, emptying his pockets. There was a tough aura about the man, and it made Hyuk nervous.

The man stared at the coins with wonder. “What… are these?” he asked, picking up a coin and tracing the engraving on it with his finger. “Where did you get these, punk?”

The tone of his voice, the muscles on his arms, the half-lidded eyes, and even the earring dangling from his ear, all powerfully reminded Hyuk of one person.

“Ravi sent me here,” Hyuk said. “You’re… his father. Right?” he asked tentatively.

To Hyuk’s surprise, the man grinned, showing his gums. “I sure am!” he proclaimed proudly. “Yongguk’s the name. Bang Yongguk. Don’t ya worry, kid. I’ll have a room for ya. Ya can stay as long as ya like.” He returned the coins back into Hyuk’s hand, closing it with his own.

“Uh, thank you?” said Hyuk, startled at this sudden burst of generosity.

The surprise must’ve shown, for Ravi’s dad leaned closer.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a godda*n charity,” claimed the man. “But I like havin someone else ‘round Ravi. You seem like a nice kid. Not like those two punks he keeps hanging out with.” he said, frowning. He inclined his head to a table in the corner. Sure enough, two boys sat there, laughing loudly. One of them must’ve felt Hyuk’s eyes.

“Yah, Bang Yongguk!” the boy shouted, not even using a polite tone. “You’re badmouthing us again, aren’t you?!”

“And what the hell happened to the beer here? We haven’t drunk anything decent in, like, a week!” threw the other.

“STUPID PUNKS!” yelled Bang back at them, throwing a beer-like pixel at them. At the last moment, the tall kid with blond-turquoise hair ducked beneath the table, pulling his friend along. The beer, which was really just a yellow-white blur, let out a loud shattering sound, exploding into a million transparent pixels. 

Suddenly, the kid with blonde-blue hair stood up. “YAH, BANG YONGGUK!”  He banged both of his fists on the table. “Jongup could’ve got hurt just now!!!”

Only now did his friend emerge from under the table. “Hey, I can take care of myself, you know.” said the kid named Jongup, ruffling the back of his hair awkwardly.

But the other boy looked beyond furious. “What problem do you have with us, anyways?! We’re Ravi’s only friends!”

That came as a true shock to Hyuk. With his cool gun-arm and his tough mannerisms, Ravi seemed like a popular kid. Not for a second did Hyuk consider that, maybe, Ravi wasn’t like that at all.

“Well, not anymore!” grinned Yongguk, flashing his gums at the duo. Suddenly he threw a hand over Hyuk. In an instant Hyuk felt his shoulders stiffen. “Ravi has a new friend, so he doesn’t need to mess around with scum like you anymore.”

If anything, Jongup looked truly hurt. “D-did… did Ravi really say that?“ But Hyuk was more concerned about the other dude. He hoped what he saw in the blonde-blue boy’s eyes wasn’t what it seemed – a pure hatred, directed right at him.

“All right,” said the blonde-blue boy. His thick lips turned into an angry line, but he said nothing more.

“Damn kids, ” cursed Yongguk, before turning to Hyuk. “Sorry ‘bout that.” He sighed. “Jongup and Zelo. The biggest troublemakers you’ll ever see, kid. Ravi seems to like them, so I can’t really throw them out,” he apologised, before biting his lip. “But I don’t like them one bit. Call me if they give ya any more trouble, ‘kay? I’ll go see which rooms are free. Ma Channie’ll be here in a sec, if ya want a beer or anything.”

With that, Yongguk retreated up a winding staircase, which whined loudly under his weight.

Across the room, Zelo turned back to Jongup. Covering their mouths as if it was sharing some super-important secrets, they whispered in each other’s ears, occasionally exploding into laughter. Zelo’s laugh sounded beyond odd. Chopped up and erratic, it reminded Hyuk of listening to someone through a terrible phone connection. Even though Jongup and Zelo seemed to be in their own world, every now and then the two would glance at Hyuk: Zelo enraged, Jongup betrayed and confused.

Finally, a person Hyuk supposed was “Channie” emerged from the kitchens. He was a smiling dark-haired man in a pink apron and a ridiculous pink cape with huge purple dots on it. And to tell the truth, he was the first person in this game that didn’t scare the life out of Hyuk.

“Hi, I’m Himchan, how may I help you? Something to eat, or to drink?”

It wasn’t like Hyuk was hungry or thirsty – he simply couldn’t be. But he did miss the taste of food, and, even more, the feeling of normality that came with it. Moreover, he was kind of curious about game food. Can it even be eaten? Or does it just replenish your health bar or something?

 “Ya, you’re so cuuute!” Himchan unexpectedly let out, pinching Hyuk’s cheek. “What the-oww!” yelled Hyuk, shocked rather than actually hurt. Ignoring Hyuk’s yelps, Himchan ruffled his hair affectionately.

It was more than weird to get such fond treatment from a total stranger. Yet, Hyuk couldn’t bring himself to even be freaked out. Somehow it was nearly impossible to be suspicious of Himchan, or even to take him seriously, in that silly pink cape.

When Himchan withdrew into the kitchen again, Hyuk could hear him whistling a simple tune.

“Hey.” said a deep voice next to him, as Yongguk crashed into a chair. “Room five’s free right now. Third floor. Has a nice view, that one. Ya can see the whole damn village from there.” Unexpectedly, Yongguk winked. “The bed’s real big in that one, just so ya know.”

The family resemblance was striking. Hyuk just couldn’t hold it in.

“Umm, you probably get this a lot... but Ravi’s exactly like you.”

Yongguk grinned sheepishly at that. ”Glad to hear that, kid.”

Honestly, it was really none of Hyuk’s business – and yet, the curiosity was gnarling at him, urging him to ask. “Umm, Yongguk… what’s your relationship with Himchan?” he said, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Yongguk sat frozen, blinking a few times before speaking. “H-how… how did ya know, kid?!”

Hyuk couldn’t help but grin. “Well, you do call him “my Channie”, for starters.”

Throwing his head back, Yongguk roared with laughter. “Aish, I’m really a brickhead, I am.” he grinned, showing his gums. “Well, uh, I may or may not have stumbled into his bed once or twice, if that answers your question, punk.” He stood up from his chair. “Gotta go change some of them damn sheets. Boring as shit, but, well, me and my Channie run this place alone. And the laundry ain’t gonna wash itself.”

“I could help you out,” offered Hyuk. “I mean, you’re letting me stay here for free, right? It’s the least I could do-”

But Yongguk only shook his head. “It’s all right, kid. Just get some rest, will ya?”

Seconds after Bang had ascended the stairs and a door closed shut after him, Zelo stood up.

“You,” he spat at Hyuk, unnecessarily, as him and Jongup were the only other people left in the room. “Ravi’s new friend?” Zelo smirked, his blonde-blue hair falling into his dark eyes.

Eyes that shone with an inhuman gleam.

“Let’s see what you’re made of.”


	7. An Old Geezer Fights a Robot

**Boss:** ZELO (LVL=42, HP=2561, MP=543, STR=54, DEF=78)

 **Boss:** JONGUP (LVL=39, HP=1932, MP=268, STR=48, DEF=13)

 **Ally:** YONGGUK (LVL=58, HP=3745, MP=96, STR=72, DEF=24)

 **Ally:** HIMCHAN (LVL=?, HP=10000, MP=1000, STR=∞, DEF=100)

 

*** * * * ***

 

“Let’s see what you’re made of.”

At that moment, Hyuk wanted to do a thousand things at once. He wanted to fall under the table in case of possible gunfire. He wanted to shout something, anything, that might stop Zelo from beating him into a pile of goo. He wanted to scream for Yongguk, or for Ravi, or the tutorial boy, or even Changmin or Kyu or Mr Jung, for anyone and everyone who could possibly help him.

And yet, he did nothing but stare at Zelo in mute shock.

Where there had been flesh a moment ago, now was just cold metal. Zelo’s skin was shrinking, thinning, fading, revealing the mechanical blue surface beneath, as blue as his hair. His eyes were changing as well, going from dark to bright red in a matter of seconds. Along with his skin, his eyebrows, nose and lips practically disappeared, leaving only gaping holes. Even his hair transformed, puffing up as though from an electric shock. Slowly, the red of his eyes spread, covering his iris, his pupil, and the whole white of his eyes, until his eye sockets had nothing in them but a pulsing red light.

Mouth agape, Hyuk could only watch as Zelo’s forearms twisted outwards at an impossible angle, creaking and groaning as they fell off at the elbow. What they left behind was even scarier that Zelo’s eyes – it was a set of two matching gleam-sharp swords, poking from his elbows instead of hands.

Robot Zelo took a step forwards, then another. Jongup was right behind, smiling wickedly at Hyuk’s reaction to Zelo’s true form, before casually pulling a katana out from under his clothes. Inching backwards, Hyuk’s chest froze in terror as his back hit the wall.

Without a warning, Zelo lunged, aiming at Hyuk’s left side, the sharp swords gleaming orange-red under the eternally setting sun. Hyuk closed his eyes, unable to do anything but wait for the inevitable pain that would, surely, soon burn across his body.

 _If I only had some skill, a weapon like Ravi’s, or a sword, or magic…_ Hyuk thought, eyes tightly shut.

Right then, something big and warm crashed right into Hyuk, making him fly meters away, turn over a table and fall hard on the ground. For a split second, he could feel the weight and warmth of another body on his, before Yongguk stood up and turned towards Jongup and Zelo, hands balled into fists.

“I _knew_ you’d do that the moment I was out of the room. Stupid punks. I _knew_ it.”

“Shut up, you old geezer!” yelled Jongup. “And stand out of the way!” joined Zelo. “This is between _us_ and _him_ , ” he said, his voice a hideous scrape of metal on metal.

Yongguk let out a long sigh.“Then you leave me no choice.”

He closed his eyes.

Yongguk’s chains, the golden chains that hung from his neck, turned out to be not many, but one. It uncoiled from Yongguk’s neck and slithered down his toned torso like a snake. The chain slipped through his hands and continued below, falling and pooling on the ground, the metal links crashing into and scraping against each other, ringing together in cacophony.

“Come at me.” Yongguk growled, voice a mere whisper, low and dangerous.

And Zelo didn’t need to be told twice. Just like he’d lunged at Hyuk, he now aimed at Yongguk, his right sword-hard coming down in a vicious circle.

But Yongguk’s chain moved as though it had a mind of its own, jumping up and wrapping itself around Zelo’s metal arm, right behind the point where the arm turned into a blade. Hissing, Zelo jerked the chain off, only to have it suddenly slither around his leg. With a violent jerk of Yongguk’s strong arms, Zelo came crashing forwards-

Cursing, Yongguk pulled away and took a step back into the unoccupied side of the room. Hyuk was left under a table, closer to Zelo than to Yongguk, but the two boys seemed to have lost all interest in Hyuk in the light of a fight with the inn’s owner.

An explosion of profanities passed Yongguk’s lips, as he glanced at the wound left by Jongup’s katana. While he was winning over Zelo, Jongup had taken the opportunity to land a blow on his bicep. Still spitting curses into his chin, Yongguk tore his left sleeve off, revealing a long, thin cut on his muscular arm.

“Think I can’t fight two of ya punks at once, huh? ” Yongguk smirked, balancing the golden chain in his hands.

Humiliated by his fall earlier, Zelo was too angry to reply. He started towards Yongguk, but Jongup was faster. At first, Jongup took a step to the side, but then quickly backed away, only to slash at Yongguk’s wounded left with his katana. But whether he cut left or right, Yongguk’s chain was there to block the blow.

In a flash, Zelo joined in, and the three turned into a blur of sword and katana and chain. Hyuk watched, half in horror, half in admiration, as blows and cuts flew faster than he could see. At one moment, Yongguk was thrown backwards, rolling over three tables before landing on his feet, moving quickly aside just as Jongup slashed at him from above. Zelo’s eyes, red with fury and power, sent a beam of light that nearly cut Yongguk up in two. But then, Yongguk’s chain wrapped tightly around Zelo’s neck, who let out horrible metallic choking sounds, at least until Jongup practically leaped on top of the inn’s owner in an attempt to help his friend-

“That’s enough!“ said a stern, motherly voice. Sure enough, Himchan stood there in his pink apron and his absurd spotted cape, glaring at two armed men and a robot as though they were a bunch of naughty children.

Startled, the trio just stood there, Yongguk’s chain immobilising Zelo’s arm-sword, while another part of it was coiled around Jongup’s waist.

After a moment’s pause, Zelo tried to get the fight going again, slashing with his other arm-sword towards Yongguk’s thigh-

“I SAID THAT’S ENOUGH!!!“ squealed Himchan.

Exactly what happened then, Hyuk had no idea. The next thing he knew, Zelo was back in human form, sprawled on the floor in a corner of the room, while Jongup was in another corner, groaning into the floorboards. In the third corner was Yongguk, eyes almost closed in exhaustion, his chain slithering around in random directions, portions of it bumping into each other like a bunch of confused snakes.

In the middle of it all stood Himchan, apron and cape tossed aside, hands on his hips. He pouted, strictly looking over the three males in the corners of the room, all three panting heavily and moaning in pain.

Zelo just couldn’t take his eyes off Himchan. He simply couldn’t understand what he was seeing. Because on Himchan’s stomach, from his upper abdomen and all the way to his hips, were scales - not soft ones like fish have, but tough and unbreakable like some kind of built-in armour. They gleamed pink and purple under the setting sun, along with an occasional line of dark blue. But that was nothing compared to Himchan’s back.

“Wings… wings.” muttered Hyuk like a madman. His head was getting heavy. “You… you have f*ckin _wings_ -“

“Oh my god! Are you alright?!“ paniked Himchan, rushing to Hyuk’s side. “Are you hurt?“

“You. Have. _Wings_.“

“That’s - that’s true. I do.” said Himchan, obviously confused. He didn’t seem to think having WINGS was especially unusual. “What about them?” Hyuk was too stunned to even reply. Picking Hyuk up as though he weighed no more than a doll, Himchan put him into a chair, stroking his cheek worriedly. “I’ll be back in a second, as soon as I deal with these idiots.“

Beat-up and exhausted, it took Zelo and Jongup a good few seconds to realise Himchan had picked them up by the backs of their shirts, like kittens.

“Yah, what are you doing?!” squealed Jongup.

“Put me down, put me down!!!“ demanded Zelo, kicking around and flailing his arms in midair.

Himchan let out a _tsk_ ing noise.

“Time to go home, kids!“ he said cheerfully, tossing the two boys right out the door before slamming it in their faces.

Dusting his hands off, Himchan turned to Yongguk, carrying him into a chair next to Zelo’s. In a matter of seconds, Himchan had pulled out a green object from somewhere. It was hard to make out what it was since it wasn’t much more than a blurry pixel. Yet, Hyuk, being the long-time gamer he was, recognised it instantly.

“A potion!“ he exclaimed. It was great to see something familiar- and something that might actually help him in his search for a way back to the real world.

“Have you run out of them?“ asked Himchan, lips pressed together in worry. “Here, take these.“ he said, putting something in Hyuk’s hand.

“AAAAGH!!!“ yelped Hyuk. A message, framed in blue, stood in the center of his vision, right over where Himchan’s face should be.

“Inventory: Items: Potion x 10, Foreign Coins x 500. Key items: Chopper Doll.“

“All right, all right!“ Hyuk yelled out loud.

“Hyuk, are you okay?!“ asked Himchan worriedly.

“Yeah, I’m fine.“ claimed Hyuk.

Himchan was unconvinced. “How is your HP?“

“What? Oh,“ said Hyuk, checking his health bar, “Not bad. 80/100.“

It seemed as though when Yongguk had saved him from Zelo’s attack, the fall he endured made him lose a few health points.

“Take a potion, then.“ insisted Himchan, putting one more in front of him, before tucking one into Yongguk’s hand as well.

Hyuk blinked at the object on the table. It was just a blurry pixel.

Gingerly, he reached out to touch it, only to be attacked by another message in a blue frame.

“Potion. Use?”

“YES!!!” shouted Hyuk.

“That’s it,” decided Himchan, turning towards him, ”I’m getting you to bed.”

Before Hyuk could protest, he was cuddled in Himchan’s arms, arms that were so thin and pale, but that had still somehow managed to defeat three dangerous warriors.

“How… how did you do that?” asked Hyuk tiredly, watching Himchan’s wings that poked behind his shoulders. Every so often, a wing would stretch out a little before folding back. It seemed like Himchan was doing it subconsciously. Suddenly Hyuk’s eyes lit up. “Can you teach me to fight like that?”

Himchan looked thoroughly confused. “Why do you want to fight? It’s stupid!”

“I… I want to go home. But I don’t even know how to get there...”

“Sounds like you need a map.” said Himchan lightly.

Hyuk raised his head a little, only to let it fall back on Himchan’s shoulder. Only then did he realise how close their faces were.

“What room are you, again?” said Himchan, oblivious, carrying Hyuk up the stairs.

“Room five. Third floor.”

Hyuk sank into an exhausted silence. Himchan adjusted him better in his arms.

“Can I touch your wings?” Hyuk suddenly asked.

He could swear he saw Himchan blush. “I- I guess you can.” he stuttered.

“I’ve never seen a guy with wings before,” confessed Hyuk, reaching over Himchan’s shoulder and tracing the soft scales of his pink-purple wings. Much like a bat’s, Himchan’s wings were just bone and skin. But the colours on them, morphing and blending into one another and shimmering when he moved, made them look truly beautiful.

“I’m a dragonblood,” said Himchan, as if that explained even a tenth of the questions Hyuk had. “This is you room-” Himchan suddenly halted, horrified, “God, I don’t know your name! I’m sorry-”

“It’s all right, “ said Hyuk tiredly. “I’m Hyuk.”

Placing Hyuk in the bed (which _was_ quite big, just like Yongguk had said), Himchan smiled, before softly closing the door.

“Good night, Hyuk.”

 

*** * * * ***

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KissTheDream: Anyone else super excited for the Ravi & Leo subunit? Those teasers were GORGEOUS <3


	8. Himchan's Cape is Dumb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KissTheDream: This story turned out waaaaaay too weird.  
> ... I'm becoming strangely attached to it.

*** * * * ***

 

Day had come without Hyuk falling asleep at all. If it could even be called _day_ –the sun was still hanging stubbornly in the same place, halfway down the horizon.

“How do you measure time?” was the first thing Hyuk asked when he descended the last of the stairs. Even though he hadn’t slept ever since entering this game, or even felt a need to, Hyuk felt somehow refreshened.

Himchan was busy scrubbing some split beer of a table. He glanced up at Hyuk, confused. “Well, glad to see you’re feeling better!” he greeted cheerfully. His apron and cape were back in place. He looked so… _normal_. Yesterday’s fight and Himchan’s bat-like wings seemed like a crazy dream.

“Yo, kid.”

Grinning like an idiot, Hyuk returned Ravi’s fist bump.

“Wait, you’re really friends?!” exclaimed Himchan, mouth in a comical “O”. “That’s great! I thought Bang made that up just to annoy Jongup and Zelo!”

Ravi groaned, throwing his head back exasperatedly. “Dad’s been fighting them _again_ , hasn’t he?”

Eyes wide, he suddenly turned to Hyuk. “Dad didn’t bother ya, did he? My crazy father seems to have a f*cking problem with ma choice of friends,” Ravi complained, sighing. Himchan giggled before disappearing into the kitchens.

“No, not at all! He actually helped me a lot!”

“Oh?” said Ravi, surprised. “Well, that’s a first.”

“Want me to get you anything? Breakfast, or-” prompted Himchan from the other room.

“No.” deadpanned Ravi. He looked quite embarrassed.

“… Your dad’s actually really cool,” said Hyuk, trying not to laugh at Ravi’s childish behavior, “and Himchan too.”

“Uh, right”, murmured Ravi, but his tone suggested the opposite.

Never in his wildest dreams did Hyuk imagine Ravi was the type to be easily embarrassed. _Although, if Himchan was MY family, I’d probably be embarrassed too. Someone really needs to tell him about that cape._

Right then, Yongguk barged though the door, holding a basket full of clean white towels.

“Yo, ‘mornin!”

Ravi just continued to sulk, but Hyuk returned the greeting with a smile.

Any trace of last evening’s fight was gone from Yongguk. There was no cut on his forearm – not even a bruise. Obviously the potion had done its work.

“There’s something I have to ask you,” said Hyuk, turning to Yongguk.

He hated depending on Ravi for everything. He hated that he couldn’t protect himself from Zelo the day before, so Yongguk had to save his butt. He hated that Himchan had to carry him all the way upstairs to bed. Whenever Hyuk played a game in the past, read a book or watched a movie, he always hated those useless characters who were weak and always had to be rescued by their friends. Turning into such a person was the most humiliating thing Hyuk could think of.

“Can you find me something I can fight with?”

 

*** * * * ***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KissTheDream: Sorry for the short update! >.


	9. Red Beans

 

*** * * * ***

 

The large clearing behind Ravi’s house was merely an expanse of fluorescent green. Threading though it, Hyuk followed Ravi and Yongguk to a small hut nestled beneath a pair of pixelised pines.

“’Tis is where we keeps weapons and the like,” said Ravi in his growly voice. “Take a look around, kid,” added Yongguk. “Try stuff out”. All the while Hyuk had to prevent himself from chuckling – the father and son had exactly the same tone of voice, and similar mannerisms too. It was freaky and cute at the same time.

Alone inside the weaponry, Hyuk’s jaw dropped.

First of all, the place was impossibly huge – about ten times the size of what it looked like from the outside. Rows upon rows of wooden stands crowded the place, holding every kind of weapon you can think of. Some things Hyuk couldn’t even name. What he could, though, was in enough quantities to supply an entire army. Guns were piled carelessly in a corner, greatswords and lances leaned casually against the wall, and Hyuk almost stepped into a crate full of grenades.

No way in hell could Hyuk, with his skinny teenage arms, use anything as fancy as a greatsword. It would either be a gun, or some kind of sword. But when he reached out to touch one...

“AAAAGH!”

Hyuk blinked once, then twice. A blinding flash of blue covered his whole vision, just for a moment, before his sight returned.

A minute ticked by. Nothing happened.

Was this some kind of glitch? A bug in the game?

“Wha- Hey!!! Mr Tutorial!”

Exactly when and why he had dubbed the stranger Mr Tutorial, Hyuk didn’t really remember. But sure enough, the same boy he had met in the castle yard was here now, smiling absent-mindedly in the middle of the sword racks.

“Oh – Hi, Hyuk. Wanna use that sword? Good. Get it out. It’s best to hold it at the middle of the hilt, but you may later adjust if-”

“Don’t disappear on me like last time.” said Hyuk, eying the “tutorial dude” suspiciously, before reaching out to a long blade, almost as long as his arm.

“Sword. Attack: +10, Defense: +7, Magic: -3. Use?”

“Yes.” said Hyuk to the air.

“Great!” exclaimed the boy, even though Hyuk did nothing but take the sword in hand. Nervously, Hyuk altered his grip on the hilt. It felt heavy, and awkward in his hand.

“You can practise at those dummies over there.” said the boy. “Strike to deal damage. Three times makes a combo, for which you deal extra damage. Make longer combos to boost the bonus even more. Well, looks like my job here is done-”

“WAIT!!!” yelled Hyuk. “How do I use the Chopper doll? Ravi said it’s just a toy.”

The boy only smiled quizzically, showing his dimples.

“All right, then, uh,” groped Hyuk for another question, “Is there an exit in this game? Can I pause, or quit?”

The boy was still smiling, though he looked a little sad.

“Ok then, uh... what’s your name?” Truthfully, Hyuk had asked the first question he could think of. He was desperate to keep the tutorial guide there for a while, since “tutorial” was, apart from the coins in his pocket, the only reminder that Hyuk was in a _game_ , not in reality. And, somewhere deep inside his mind, Hyuk felt he was getting a little carried away.

“I’m the tutorial guide.” said the boy, blinking.

“Is that your name?”

“I’m... tutorial.” repeated the boy.

“So, you don’t have a name. That must really suck. How ‘bout we make you one?”

“... What?”

Hyuk put a finger to his lips, thinking. “What do you like most in the world?”

“Park Hyoshin.” replied the boy at once.

“... Who’s that? Never mind, you can’t be called the same. What else do you like?”

The boy bit his lip. For a while, he looked deep in thought.

“Red beans.” he finally replied.

“Huh??”

“Red beans. The kind you make desserts out of.”

It took Hyuk a few moments to process such a weird answer.

“That’s... cute?” said Hyuk, surprised. He had expected no answer at all, or at least something generic. But it seemed as though “mr tutorial” was more than just a machine for giving instructions. Perhaps he was just like Ravi or Himchan.

“All right, then... Something with “bean”. Hmmm...” muttered Hyuk while thinking. “Wonbin? Nope, doesn’t sound right... Hongbin?” Hyuk’s face lit up. “How about Hongbin, then?”

“Y-es, I guess I, uh...” stuttered the boy something incomprehensible.

“You don’t like it?”

“I, I do, in fact I think I... ” the boy looked down at his hands. A soft smile was playing on his lips.

“I’m... Hongbin?” said Hongbin. His face looked wonderstruck.

“Nice having a name, right?” suggested Hyuk, now smiling himself.

“Yeah...” said Hongbin, that dreamy smile still on his lips. “Hyuk, thanks.”

Just a few seconds ago, something had drastically changed about the other boy. Hyuk couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but Hongbin’s face now had a lively glow, and a bright new aura appeared around him. Hyuk’s cheeks felt hot, but he brushed that thought away.

“When will you appear again?” Hyuk couldn’t help but ask.

“Whenever you need instructions.”

“I kinda need instructions all the time,” complained Hyuk, waving his hands around frantically, “this game is way too hard!”

Hongbin chuckled at that. “I’m sorry, but I can’t follow you around, Hyuk. Then the game would be too easy!” Suddenly, Hongbin’s eyes grew wide. “Right, I almost forgot! You have any red beans with you?” he asked hopefully.

“What? No, I don’t,” said Hyuk.

“Oh.” Hongbin’s head dropped. “Well, when you find some, you can call me again. I’m very fond of red beans,” he smiled.

“Wait, so I can summon you with _beans_?” They shouldn’t be too hard to find, right? “Cool! You should’ve told me that before! I’ll be sure to get some!”

“Great! Oh, and Hyuk-”

It sounded like Hongbin had something important to say. Hyuk took a step closer. “What?”

A voice started singing somewhere.

“PARK HYOSHIN-NIM!!!” screamed Hongbin, stars in his eyes, sprinting towards the door.

“What? Yah, Hongbin!!!”

But Hongbin was already gone.

 

*** * * * ***


	10. Jongup Kicks Hyuk's Ass

Boss: JONGUP (LVL=41, HP=2002, MP=271, STR=49, DEF=14)

 

*** * * * ***

 

Inside the weaponry, Hyuk lost track of time. He tried out more than fifty different weapons. He even attempted to lift a greatsword, only to realize in shock that he couldn’t even _move_ the thing. A few weapons he couldn’t even equip. When he tried, he would get the blue message, saying that the particular lance or staff or axe was only for the dragonblood, or only for magic-oriented characters, or that he needed to level up to use them.

The first sword he had taken was quickly discarded as too big, along with guns altogether – Hyuk’s sloppy aiming had caused him to miss the target entirely, putting a few holes in the brown walls. ... _Ooops. Hope Yongguk and Ravi won’t mind._

Finally, he settled for a short sword, so short it could pass for a knife. Holding it felt comfortable, and his hands didn’t get tired using it – but would it be of any good in real battle?

Right at that moment, the door creaked open with an exaggerated whine. _Jeez, the sound effects in this game are no better than the graphics!_

“Hey, uh, hi Hyuk,” said Jongup.

Instantly, Hyuk spun around, sword in hand, ready to strike. Unlike the evening before, Hyuk now had _something_ to use against the katana-wielding boy. He was not completely helpless anymore.

“Wha- I’m not here to fight you!!!” yelled Jongup when Hyuk took a step closer. Where he got the confidence, Hyuk had no idea. Even with a weapon, Hyuk was obviously no match for Jongup.

“I just- well- I wanted to apologise for last night.” said Jongup. He fiddled with his fingers nervously.

In awe, Hyuk just stared. It seemed as though, when he wasn’t near Zelo, Jongup was an entirely different person.

“Apology accepted,” said Hyuk, “but on one condition.”

“What condition?”

Hyuk smiled. Maybe he didn’t _entirely_ suck at this game.

“You’re gonna be my sparring partner.”

 

*** * * * ***


	11. Yongguk is a Pervert

*** * * * ***

 

By the time he reached the inn, Hyuk’s knees were weak and trembling, the inn’s door strangely heavy. _It’s sunset already_ , thought Hyuk, forgetting that, in this village, it was _always_ sunset.

“My god!!!” exclaimed Himchan, almost dropping a tray full of pixel beer. “What have you two been _doing_?”

Leaning against the wall, Yongguk eyes the two boys strangely.

“Practising,” said Jongup in his quiet voice. ”Practising,” repeated in Yongguk’s direction.

“Jongup was teaching me how to use a sword, and-”

Yongguk’s eyes got even stranger.

“Yah, you pervert!!!” screamed Himchan, slapping Yongguk’s face with a pink cleaning cloth. Thundering to the kitchen and back, he tucked a potion into Hyuk’s and Jongup’s hands.

“See what I have to put up with?” said Himchan, casting a sideways glance at Yongguk.

“Sorry about last night, Mr Himchan.” muttered Jongup, head hanging low.

Himchan giggled affectionately. “Will you ever stop calling me that?”

“I –uh- I mean,” began Jongup, blushing.

Instantly, Hyuk collapsed into a chair and used his potion. At once, his HP skyrocketed from 8/100 to a 100/100. He felt reborn. The training session with Jongup had been much harsher than he’d expected. When he had his katana in hand, Jongup was not fidgety or nervous at all. Rather, he was frighteningly concentrated, and attacked relentlessly until he almost killed Hyuk with a ten-hit combo.

In other words, Hyuk got his ass kicked. He reassured himself that it was, after all, his first sword fight _ever_ , but somehow he still felt down.

“Whada hell happened?!” exclaimed Ravi as soon as he set foot inside the inn and saw Hyuk slumped in his chair.

“Just practised a little with Jongup today. Swordfighting and stuff.”

“Bet Jongup kicked your ass.” chuckled Ravi, then ducked to evade Hyuk’s punch. Somehow, at the last moment he caught Hyuk’s fist in his hand. “How many times do I have to say this, kid? You got no chance against me.”

Somehow, the physical effort he had spent that day put Hyuk in a good mood. He was finally doing something that might help him get out of this game.

“Want a beer or something? ‘Cause I’m getting one.“

Despite being curious about the taste of video game beer, Hyuk declined the offer. On the other hand, the empty, transparent pixels on Ravi’s table started multiplying. The same was true for Jongup, but he drank his drinks slowly and in silence.

“Where is Zelo, anyways?” Hyuk asked, scanning the inn warily.

“I dunno. Jongup’s a boring f*ck when Zelo isn’t around,” said Ravi when he had drunk more beer than Hyuk thought possible. On Hyuk’s other side, Jongup said nothing, but Hyuk thought his eyes got a little sad. Oblivious, Ravi ranted on. “And Zelo’s a mess when he’s alone. They’re kinda like my arm.” he said, tapping his golden gun-arm with his only hand. “Zelo’s da gun and Jongup’s da arm. Da gun’s da one that does da shooting, but it’s da arm that’s aiming. Aiming don’t count fo’ shit if ya gun doesn’t shoot, but ya can’t hit anything if ya can’t aim.”

“That’s true, I can’t.” said Hyuk. “Aim, I mean. Guns just don’t agree with me.”

Ravi just threw his head back exasperatedly and sank in his seat.

“Ya know,” started Ravi, drawing out his words, ”Hakyeon... Hakyeon has... skin like, like chocolate.” Tiredly, he put his head against his elbows. “Like, it _tastes_ like chocolate. Ya know?” He looked to Hyuk. “Yah, Hyuk, will ya stop being all blurry n’ stuff?” Hyuk chuckled at that, and Jongup almost chocked on his beer. “Yaaah, what’s so funny...” protested Ravi weakly. Eyes half-closed and shimmering, he gazed into his empty beer glass as though it was a fortune-teller’s orb. “Imma tell your future, you two. So ya better... better listen up. Punks.”

Hyuk was trying hard not to laugh until his stomach started hurting.

“I see... I see... Future... Hmmm...” Suddenly, Ravi’s head dropped to the table. “I can see... uhh... In your future, I see... what the hell do I see. I see a godd*mn beer mug.” His eyes fell closed.

“Shouldn’t we get him to bed?” whispered Jongup into Hyuk’s ear, sending a gush of warm breath to his neck.

“Definitely,” confirmed Hyuk. Ravi started snoring. “Do you know a room that’s free? We can’t drag him all the way to his house.”

Jongup’s face froze. “I’m pretty sure the inn’s full right now. It’s the hunting season.”

Hyuk thought for a moment before realizing the obvious. “Oh, right! My bed’s huge, so we can carry him there.”

“Oh- I mean- oh. Right.”

Even though he’d drunk a lot himself, Jongup managed to help Hyuk carry Ravi to the third floor. After each floor Hyuk would mentally curse Ravi and his drinking habits, his huge metal arm that made him much heavier than he should be, and his annoying snoring that didn’t stop for a second.

“We’re ... uhhh... we’re here...” panted Hyuk. As soon as they flung Ravi onto the bed (just three blue pixels, covered white on top, as to represent sheets), Jongup swayed dangerously, groping for a wall to hold on to.

“I think I...” he muttered, head hung low, before plummeting downwards.

Hyuk caught him just before he hit the floor. Unlike Ravi, Jongup was thin and light- and warm in Hyuk’s arms.

“Uhh, I- I’m sorry- I-”

That’s when Jongup’s eyes grew wide. Startled, he backed away.

“I- I think I can walk now...”

“You sure?” asked Hyuk. Jongup’s cheeks were flushed, maybe from all that beer.

“Yeah...” said Jongup, carefully starting down the staircase, step by step.

If it was anyone else, Hyuk wouldn’t let them go alone, but he trusted Jongup’s sense.

Steeling himself for the awkwardness that was to come, Hyuk sighed and closed door of his room. He climbed into his bed, where another boy was snoring.

 

*** * * * ***


	12. A Greater World

 

*** * * * ***

 

Not that Hyuk would ever admit it, even to himself, but he was eager for something to happen.

Idly, he lay sprawled on the bed, every now and then glancing at the sleeping boy next to him. Before long he was bored out of his mind. His thoughts were scattered, like wondering whether his wardrobe, made of two brown rectangles, could actually open. Or would the blue dialogue box pop up in front of his eyes? He’d have to test that when he gets up. Maybe there were secret items hidden in that wardrobe. He’d seen that in games a lot.

Unable to sleep, Hyuk took a long look at Ravi. All the other boy did was snore, and occasionally kick Hyuk in his sleep. Frankly, Hyuk felt disappointed. But what exactly he had been expecting? Ravi was drunk as a pirate, and it seemed not even an apocalypse could stir his slumber.

Because he had nothing else to do (at least, that’s what he told himself), Hyuk nuzzled into Ravi’s shoulder, resting his hand on his well-toned stomach.

Ever since entering this game, Hyuk didn’t sleep. He was beginning to think he simply didn’t require it, just like he didn’t need food or drink. But now, Hyuk got into a strange state of relaxation. Not sleep – he was still conscious – but a feeling of returning strength. Movies playing in his mind, Hyuk soon lost track of reality.

“How about you let go of me, huh?” said a slightly annoyed voice, many hours later.

Hyuk’s eyes snapped open, before turning wide. How exactly he ended up like that, he had no idea – all he knew was that he was clutching Ravi’s waist, head nuzzled into his back.

He let go as though scorched by fire.

“Uh, thanks?” said Ravi, raising an eyebrow. “You drool when you sleep.”

_I don’t sleep_ , Hyuk wanted to say, but thought better of it. “You _kick_ when you sleep. And your snoring is super loud.”

“Sorry, kid.” replied Ravi. The silence felt awkward. “I’m heading downstairs.”

“Yeah, me too,” joined Hyuk. Suddenly, he realized he was still in the oversized orange shirt he had put on back in reality, on that stormy Saturday morning, before heading to the game room. Three or four whole days must have passed since then, maybe even a week. But no smell or sweat or dirt ever appeared on Hyuk’s body or clothes. It was as though Hyuk’s physical self was frozen in the state it was in when he arrived.

The same “frozen” state seemed true for the people around him. Moreover, Ravi’s hairstyle was perfect even though he’d just got up.

“Good morning!” called Himchan cheerfully. Ravi tried to ignore his existence.

“I have good news for you,” said Himchan when Hyuk sat at a table. The man in pink took out a piece of paper from his apron. “Ta-dah! You needed a map, right?”

“Yeah!” exclaimed Hyuk, reaching out to take a look.

“Inventory: Items: Potion x 10, Foreign Coins x 500, World Map. Key Items: Chopper Doll.”

“All right,” Hyuk said. He was slowly getting used to the blue box blinking in his face every time he touched an item.

The map was small and simple. It seemed as though either this world wasn’t very big, or much of it was unexplored. Either way, simplicity suited Hyuk. He could clearly recognise the castle he had arrived at, the woods he had crossed with Ravi, and the village where he was now. Three more villages and a larger town were depicted, along with a viewpoint and some kind of mysterious cave.

“Did you find the place you’re from?” asked Himchan, joining him at the table.

“Uh, I...”, Hyuk groped for an excuse, a change of subject, anything.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted Jongup at a nearby table. At Himchan’s question, Jongup had spun towards them, eyeing Hyuk with sudden curiousity.

“Ah, I... Do you have any red beans?”

It took Himchan a few moments to process such a random question. “I don’t think so. Do red beans exist? I know only brown ones, and white.”

“Oh, and do you know who Park Hyoshin is?”

“You’re _really_ weird.” said someone, dropping into the seat across Hyuk. “Ravi said so. Now I see it’s true.”

It took a lot of Hyuk’s self-control not to ask Zelo what his f*cking problem was. But Hyuk didn’t exactly wish to be cut up in two by a laser beam. So he sat there in silence, pondering how to get out of sharing a table with the robot-boy.

From above, a pink cleaning cloth suddenly slapped Zelo’s metal face.

“Zelo, be nice!” scolded Himchan as he walked past to serve a guest.

To Hyuk’s surprise, Zelo did nothing but lower his head and sulk.

From his table, Jongup glanced at them anxiously.

“Don’t you want to sit with Jongup?” asked Hyuk, hoping he wasn’t being too rude and Zelo wasn’t going to chop his head off with one of his arm-blades. Ever since that fight in the inn, Hyuk had been avioding Zelo whenever possible. It was hard to admit, but Zelo was about the scariest person (or thing?) Hyuk had ever seen.

“Actually, he wants to talk to you.” said Zelo. Jongup quickly looked away, pretending to be immersed in his drink.

“Who? Jongup?” asked Hyuk. “Sure! He can talk to me anytime he wants!”

Zelo eyed him dangerously. Something was telling Hyuk that Zelo didn’t appreciate the enthusiasm. “You don’t get it, idiot,” hissed Zelo, “he can’t talk to you _here_. He wants to speak to you _alone_.” _And don’t get any ideas_ , Zelo’s eyes seemed to add, but he didn’t put that threat into words.

“O-kay...?” said Hyuk, wondering what Jongup could possibly want to say that he couldn’t say in the inn.

“Go with him. _Now._ ” said Zelo. Hyuk couldn’t quite meet his eyes, even though they weren’t red now, but black.

“Yeah, uhh, sorry about all this,” whispered Jongup when he joined Hyuk on the way out. He looked twice as nervous as usual, if that was even possible. “Next time you want to talk to me, leave me a note or something, okay?” said Hyuk, trying to lift up the mood. “Before Zelo forgets himself and, like, murders me while delivering your message.”

“Oh, he wouldn’t do that!” said Jongup at once. “I know he comes off as... umm, a little irritable, but... uhh...”

“You like him. I get it.”

Jongup didn’t say anything to that. Walking away from the inn, the two were soon on the outskirts of the village.

“Where are we going?” asked Hyuk, watching the pixel sun in its eternal sunset.

“Uhh, well, I guess here is fine.” Jongup stopped, suddenly staring at his fingers as though it was serious business.

“Well?” asked Hyuk. A strong foreboding feeling spread through his stomach.

“... Uhmm... well... where are you from?”

Hyuk blinked a few times before answering.

“You took me all the way out here to ask me _that_?!” he said incredulously.

“Ah, well, umm, yeah.” muttered Jongup into his chin.

Hyuk laughed lightly. “I thought the others already told you. I’m from a village, but-”

“A village that you can’t find on the map?” asked Jongup. He seemed to have mustered as much confidence as he had. “You don’t even know its name.”

“I-I just-I...” stuttered Hyuk, his stomach starting to bubble with panic.

“I’ve suspected it ever since you asked me to train with you.” stated Jongup. He looked strangely excited. “You’ve never fought before. I can tell from the way you moved.” Jongup squinted at him. “And you’re level 0. I can see people’s levels, you know, “ Jongup explained, “there’s an ability that lets me do that. But I’ve never seen a level 0 before. Anyone in this world, even a small child, would at least be level 1.” concluded Jongup.

“So?” asked Hyuk. His mouth felt dry. “How do you explain that?” he asked, dreading the answer.

“I think,” Jongup began, eyes wide and shining, “that you’re from another world.”

Hyuk was thunderstruck. His mouth refused to open, his brain refused to work.

“Are you?” asked Jongup eagerly. “You have to tell me all about it! Oh, and Zelo and Ravi too! And Yongguk and Himchan might want to hear as well. I... I just can’t believe it!” exclaimed Jongup. Hyuk had never seen him so happy. Jongup practically threw himself into his arms. “I _knew_ there’s a greater world out there”, he whispered quickly into Hyuk’s neck. “A world that’s not, and won’t ever be, on that map you have. A completely different world!”

Jongup seemed to had decided to compensate for all his years of shyness and silence, all in one minute of thrilled talking and incessant questions. “How did you get here, Hyuk? Is there a... a secret door? Or by magic? Can you transport back? You can’t, can you? Or is that doorway far away from here? Is that why you want to learn how to fight? You want to fight your way back to that portal? But why did you come here in the first place?”

Finally, Hyuk opened his mouth to speak. But before he could-

“JONGUP!!!” Hyuk screamed, panic overwhelming, “JONGUP, BEHIND YOU!!!”

 

*** * * * ***

 


	13. Hooded Man Scares the Crap out of Everyone

 

 

Boss: ? (LVL=71, HP=5922, MP=2381, STR=88, DEF=39)

Ally: JONGUP (LVL=39, HP=1932, MP=268, STR=48, DEF=13)

 

 

*** * * * ***

 

Enormous and heavy, a greatsword sliced the air and cut deep into the ground, right at the spot where Jongup had been a millisecond ago.

Jongup tried to block the next blow, but the sheer force of it brought him promptly on his knees.

“JONGUP!!!” Hyuk yelled helplessly. _Godd*mmit, why am I so weak?!_ Hyuk cursed himself for the millionth time.

If he couldn’t protect even himself, how could he possibly help Jongup?

Hyuk took a look at their attacker. He froze.

Something about the man was just as scary, or maybe even scarier, that an enraged Zelo with his red eyes gleaming. But this person was a different kind of frightening – a dark aura hung about him, like a gust of cold air. The warrior’s face was hidden in a hood. All Hyuk could see were his lips, narrow but full.

For a split second, Hyuk could see Jongup whisking a small object from his pocket and tossing it towards the stranger. The grenade exploded with a deafening roar, and all three were thrown on the ground like rag dolls. Hyuk, light as he was, landed the farthest – behind a dark green pixel with orange spots on in. Maybe it was representing some kind of a bush, though it was hard to be sure considering the shitty graphics.

Jongup rolled over and got on his feet, only to evade a savage blow to his head a second later. He tried to block the next one with his katana, but his thin blade was no match for a two-handed greatsword.

 “Oh no you don’t!” shouted Jongup, slashing violently at the hooded man.

Hyuk could only watch in horror as the greatsword blocked Jongup’s attack with ease, then slid forwards against Jongup’s blade, making the metal hiss horribly, before twisting downwards and sinking into the soft flesh right below Jongup’s lungs.

Jongup fell to his knees, then headfirst into the sea of fluorescent green.

Frozen in a silent scream, Hyuk’s mouth refused to make a sound.

In mute shock, he watched the dark warrior casually turn Jongup over with a kick of his black boot. He stripped the boy of his jacket, then thoroughly searched through each pocket, pulling out potions and a ton of other items, then throwing it all promptly on the ground as though it was nothing but junk.

Without a change in expression, the stranger tore Jongup’s clothes and searched through every fold and pocket until Jongup was left in his thin black boxers.

“I... I felt it... I felt _him_...” whispered the stranger. His lips trembled. “It... it was here. I _felt_ him...”

That’s when the unknown man seemed to remember there had been another boy with Jongup. His head sprang up, turning left and right. The hooded man started looking around: up into tress, behind rocks - and into bushes. He took a step in Hyuk’s direction, still not seeing the boy. More confidently, he stepped even closer, now only a few meters away.

Hands trembling, Hyuk suddenly knew exactly what he should do. As though it had a will of its own, his arm flung one of his own potions, right in the direction where one of Jongup’s lay discarded on the fluorescent grass.

Head snapping towards the soft _clink_ of two potions together, the stranger walked back towards the sound. Hyuk prayed his knees wouldn’t betray him as he moved out of the bush and sprinted up the hill towards the relative safety of the village.

“I’m sorry, Jongup...” Hyuk whispered into his chin, voice reduced to a barely audible squeak. “I’m so sorry...”

 

 

*** * * * ***

 


	14. I'll Get Stronger

 

*** * * * ***

 

“But why would anyone attack _Jongup_?!” wondered Himchan that evening at the inn. For the umpteenth time, Ravi shot his gun-arm madly, putting yet another set of holes into the walls.

“Yah, will you stop shooting?! Someone could get hurt!” scolded Himchan. Ravi only shot him a disgusted look.

“Ya say ya didn’t even enter the woods?” inquired Yongguk, eyebrows furrowed.

Hyuk took a deep breath before answering. Himchan had wrapped him into a soft pink blanket and fed him far more potions than necessary, yet Hyuk’s trembling was unstoppable.

“We were... still in the village. That- that person- he appeared right out of _nowhere_...”

Yongguk, Himchan and Ravi listened to Hyuk’s story in stunned silence. At another table, Zelo sat with Jongup in his lap, metal hands clutching Jongup’s waist as though afraid to let go. Every time someone passed in a three-meter radius, Zelo would send them such a glare they would practically sprint away. The few customers left in the inn carefully avoided Zelo and Jongup’s corner.

“Well, I’m glad Jongup’s fine,” began Himchan, concerned, “but it... it’s so unusual. Whoever your attacker was, why would he leave Jongup alive? And why did he suddenly disappear?”

“I’m telling you, he was looking for something.” Hyuk explained, trying hard to remember exactly what had happened. “Or _someone_... I’m not sure...”

“Ya, maybe he mistook Jongup for someone else.” suggested Bang. “Who knows.”

The four sank into a worried silence.

“You _have_ to teach me how to get stronger.” said Hyuk with a sudden conviction.

“Not me, I won’t.” replied Himchan instantly. “It’s _because_ people fight that things like this are happening!”

“But you’re skilled at fighting yourself!” protested Hyuk.

Himchan shook his head. “The dragonborn are born with strength, and magic comes naturally to us.” Hyuk had never seen Himchan looks so serious. “And I choose not to use my power unless absolutely necessary.”

That’s when Ravi’s fist hit the table with a hard _thump_. He stood up. “And my friend getting hurt is not a good enough reason for you to change your mind?!” he yelled in rage.

“Calm the f*ck down,” hissed Yongguk, pushing Ravi back into his seat by the shoulder. “The bastards’s gone anyways.”

“Imma find him and spill his filthy guts out,” hissed Ravi into his chin.

“No.” whispered Hyuk. “I will.”

All three stared at him, confused.

“I’ll get stronger. And then, if I come across him again...”

Hyuk had known Jongup only for a few days or so (How could he know for how long? The sun never moved, and no one seemed to know what a clock was!). Even so, Jongup was about the nicest kid Hyuk had ever met.

Hyuk’s mind was somehow ignoring the fact Jongup was probably not a _person_ at all, but merely a character in a stupid game.

Staring into Yongguk’s eyes, then Ravi’s, Hyuk was praying one of them will understand. “I _have_ to know. How do I increase my level?”

Yongguk leaned backwards in his seat. Something about his eyes was sad. “Well, ya can’t level up just lounging here in the village, kid.”

“He won’t survive!” opposed Himchan, staring at his lover in shock. “If he goes back to those woods he’s a goner!”

“No one said he’s going alone.” rumbled Ravi in his deep voice. By accident or no, his giant red fringe fell over his eyes.

“Exactly.” said Jongup, approaching their table. Zelo still seemed to have difficulty in taking his hands off Jongup. One cold steel hand rested on the boy’s hip, and another on his shoulder.

“Hey, I drank my potions, you know. I’m totally fine now,” smiled Jongup at the robot behind. Zelo completely ignored the remark. If anything, he clutched Jongup even tighter.

“I’d tag along with ya kids, but ya know...” Yongguk smiled softly at the dark-haired man, with his ridiculous pink apron and wings under his cape. “Even a dragonblood couldn’t run this place all by himself.”

“It’s the four of us, then!” Jongup was strangely excited.

“We leave in the mornin’, all right?” suggested Ravi. “I planned to leave soon anyways, ya know. My Hakyeon has waited long enough.”

Somehow, simply reaching a decision seemed to take a huge load off everyone’s shoulders.

Only when they had all retreated to their homes and Hyuk to his third-floor room did he suddenly remember.

“Shit!” he hissed into the surface of his bed. “Shit, shit, shit!”

Jongup _knew_. He knew Hyuk was from another world.

 

*** * * * ***


	15. Three Trees On The Left

 

* * * * *

 

Not a single thing had changed about those woods since Hyuk had last passed through them. Moreover, every tree and bush and rock was exactly the same as the next. Hyuk couldn’t help but count them, trying to find a pattern.

“Three trees on the left. A bush. A tree on the right. A clearing with flowers...” he muttered into his chin.

“’Tis is how we do this,” said Ravi. He had naturally assumed the role of the leader of the four. “We make for Hakyeon’s castle. ‘Haps I find a way inside this time. Da kid can level up along the way. Questions?”

Of course Hyuk would have one. “How exactly do I level up? Training with Jongup helped me a lot, but it didn’t increase my level.”

“You’ll see.” said Zelo. For a moment, a strange foreboding washed over Hyuk.

But for once, Hyuk was thankful for Zelo’s presence. Ever since the incident with the hooded man, Zelo was so obsessively guarding Jongup, there was barely a moment when Jongup and Hyuk were left alone. Hyuk was extremely glad about that. He _really_ wasn’t in the mood for explaining anything. Moreover, he had no idea what he could possibly say that Jongup could understand. _The less they know, the better,_ thought Hyuk.

That, however, didn’t stop Jongup from staring relentlessly at Hyuk with wide eyes and a wonderstruck smile on his lips. He was completely oblivious to how Zelo’s expression would darken whenever he did so.

The four walked the woods in silence, save for the eerie music. By silent agreement, Jongup and Zelo went in front, Ravi trailing a little behind, so that Hyuk was sandwiched in the middle. He knew he should be thankful for the extra protection, but it only made Hyuk hate himself more for being a such a weakling.

Sulky, he continued counting. “Two bushes on the right. A tree. Two trees on the left... RED BEANS!!!”

Hyuk’s sudden shout made the others jump out of their skin. Even Zelo looked startled.

“What the hell was that??” asked Ravi, bewildered.

“Red beans... maybe?” grinned Hyuk, crouching beside a small plant. Each leaf was a green pixel, the stem just a line. But under those leaves were dark red blurs, just where the pods with beans should be. Hyuk reached out to touch one...

“Inventory: Items: Potion x 10, Foreign Coins x 500, World Map, Red Beans x 2. Key Items: Chopper Doll.”

“YES!” yelled Hyuk.

“... Weirdo.” muttered Ravi, eyebrow raised. “Whatdoya need that for? “Tis just a stupid plant.”

Hyuk ignored the question, whistling to himself in glee. He was tempted to summon Hongbin right there and then, but that would have to wait until Hyuk was in real trouble. It would be stupid to waste Hongbin’s help just on an idle chat.

“Ravi, I see one.” said Zelo, nodding towards their right.

Frankly, Hyuk saw nothing unusual. “Huh?“

“All right,” said Ravi, “Hyuk, ya wait here with Jongup, kay?”

“Wha- NO.” said Hyuk, a little too loudly.

“Huh? But I thought ya two were really cool?“ asked Ravi, completely confused.

“I- it’s not that, I just, eh...” started Hyuk, groping for an excuse.

“You stay with him then, and Jongup comes with me.“ suggested Zelo eagerly.

“Ya had a fight with Jongup or something?” asked Ravi again, refusing to let it go. “Come to think of it, ya’re avoiding the guy ever since we left the village. What’s goin’ on?”

“Nothing, I just,” Hyuk suddenly had an idea, “I just... I wanna stay with you.”

An awkward silence issued, and Hyuk started doubting his idea was all that great. _What exactly am I doing?_

“Oh.” said Ravi. The silence grew even more awkward.

“It’ll get away if we wait. Let’s go.” Zelo practically dragged Jongup away, rushing through the trees at an inhuman speed.

Ravi just stood there quietly. The curious metal sound Zelo’s legs made when he walked slowly died away.

“I, uh, I’m really sorry, kid. Yer a good guy an’ all, but, I mean, I _did_ tell ya about Hakyeon and I, and-”

“Wha- I’m not going to confess to you, dumbass!!!” yelled Hyuk, shocked.

Ravi looked as though slapped across the face. “Whatcha say, kid?”

“I _don’t_ have a crush on you,” explained Hyuk. He caught himself wondering if that was really true- but he could consider that later. “I’m just trying to avoid Jongup...”

“It’s him you like, then?” asked Ravi. His eyes got a little strange, as if he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

“What? No!” defended Hyuk. “He just...” _Dammit, how do I get out of this??_ “I think he likes _me_...” lied Hyuk, cheeks flushing, “so... it’s awkward...”

Thankfully, Ravi fell for it instantly. “He _does_ stare at you a lot.” His mouth stretched into a grin, but it lacked happiness. “I _did_ wonder what the two of ya were doin’ all alone, that night he got attacked. Did he try to confess to ya then?”

Hyuk was saved from answering that by Jongup and Zelo’s return.

“Did you two make out yet?” asked Zelo casually. ”I wish you’d get on with it already. I’ve knocked the thing out ages ago.”

“Knocked _what_ out?” asked Hyuk, desperate to change the subject.

“This.” said Jongup in reply. He was holding something – no, _someone_ –by the hair, before tossing them towards Hyuk.

The person stumbled forwards and collapsed to the ground, limbs sprawled out haphazardly.

Ravi, Jongup and Zelo all eyed Hyuk in expectation.

“... Huh?” asked Hyuk. “What am I supposed to do?”

Ravi took a huge sigh. “Did ya moma drop ya on the head a lot? Is that why ya lost all your memories?”

 _Fell and lost my memory! I should’ve thought of that before!_ thought Hyuk. “Uh, yeah, I probably did fall back then. Before you found me, while I wandered the woods on my own.” he lied. “I just don’t remember.”

“Kill it.” said Zelo. One of his arms was still a sword, and he used it to point to the person on the ground. The unknown boy shuddered.

Hyuk looked at his companions’ faces one by one, waiting for someone to laugh and say they were joking.

None of them did.

“Wait, what?!”

“Why do you think I attacked ya, back when we first met?” asked Ravi, raising an eyebrow.

“Whoever deals the finishing blow gets experience points, or EXP.” explained Jongup. “It doesn’t matter if Zelo and I fought this dude. If you strike the last blow, the points are yours.” Jongup squinted at the boy sprawled before him. “You’ll be able to level up _twice_ with this one, I think.”

“Maybe more.” said Zelo. “He was a b*tch to beat.”

The boy glanced up at Zelo through his long dark bangs. His eyes were wide and pleading.

“No way.” said Hyuk. The grip on his knife-sword loosened. “I’m not doing this.”

“Why do you care about a stranger?” asked Zelo. For once, he sounded genuinely curious.

“Why did you not kill me, then?” retorted Hyuk at Ravi. “Why don’t you kill me now, huh? Advance your levels?”

“You idiot,” said Zelo, “Ravi wouldn’t advance sh*t. You’re too weak to be worth anything.”

 “Is that why you didn’t kill me?!”

Ravi looked away.

“Yah, will ya get on with it?!” asked Ravi after a moment of tense silence. He motioned with his gun-arm towards the trembling boy, still avoiding Hyuk’s accusing eyes. “Not the nicest thing in the world, but if ya wanna die instead of this guy, feel free.”

“And you _will_ die if your levels don’t improve.” promised Zelo. “I don’t intend to babysit you forever.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” said Hyuk, stubbornly focused on Ravi. “Okay, maybe I get why you didn’t kill me. But you didn’t explain why you went out of your way to get me to the village.”

Ravi’s face froze. “I... I don’t really know.”

Hyuk had expected anything, except that.

“How can you not know?” asked Hyuk, baffled.

Ravi looked more confused than ever. It felt as though every word he said required a tremendous amount of effort. “I... It kinda felt like... I was supposed to do that. I didn’t think about it so much. It was like... something was telling me to take ya somewhere safe.”

Hyuk couldn’t help but gasp. Something icy hit his chest, spreading through it like a plague.

Was Ravi _programmed_ to help him?

“But, ya know,” continued Ravi, oblivious, “you’re my friend now, ya know. So don’t even ask crap like that anymore. ‘Kay?”

Was Ravi _programmed_ to be Hyuk’s friend?

“Hey, you okay?” asked Jongup.

“He’s pale as s*it,” noted Zelo.

Were the _all_ just _programmed_ to help him?

What they're saying right now - isn't that programmed too?

“Hyuk, what’s going on? You’re acting real weird.” Ravi chuckled, “Well, weirder than usual.”

“Will you kill that thing already?” complained Zelo. “I’m getting bored and I need to charge my battery.”

Hyuk took a long look at the nameless boy before him. Zelo and Jongup had beat him up pretty bad – every surface of skin had a cut or a bruise on it, and blood was gushing through the fabric of his shirt and all over his abdomen and thighs. Hyuk could only guess how low his health bar must be. One of his arms had been sliced right off, probably by Zelo’s arm-sword. Only an ugly, bloody stump was left in its place.

“He’s got just 1 HP, Hyuk.” encouraged Jongup. He seemed to had mistaken Hyuk’s silence for fear. “Just take him out.”

“Go for the neck. That’s the fastest way.” suggested Zelo.

 _This is a game,_ told Hyuk himself, just like many times before. But now, something had changed in him. Ravi’s words had stirred a cold new feeling within him. It felt as though waking up from a long dream into an ice-cruel reality – if it could even be called a reality. _None of this is real. This boy, Ravi, Jongup, or any of them. Everything is programmed. It’s all just an illusion, it’s all just lines of code. Just letters and numbers._

The boy on the ground lifted his head. Hyuk could see his eyes clearly, a beautiful green, wide with fear.

 _Just letters and numbers_.

“Please...” muttered the boy in an barely audible voice. He stared at Hyuk as one would stare at god himself. “Please...”

 _Letters and numbers_.

The scream echoed through the dark woods, once, then twice. The background music continued as though nothing had happened.

Hyuk’s sword was red and wet. A bright blue box popped up in front of his eyes, accompanied by a small triumphant “TA-DAH!”.

“Level Up +3! New Level: 3.”

“Congratulations... idiot.” said Zelo, smirking.

 

* * * * *


	16. Super-Warrior Steals A Plushie

 

Boss: ? (LVL=72, HP=6132, MP=2448, STR=89, DEF=40)

Ally: none

 

*** * * * ***

 

The days melted into one another, becoming blurred like the pixels of the trees. Every day (or every night, considering it was always nighttime), Ravi, Jongup, Zelo and Hyuk would thread their way through the woods. Occasionally, Jongup and Zelo would bring down an unfortunate warrior, and carry him or her over for Hyuk to eliminate.

Hyuk couldn’t help but notice how the dead bodies faded away when struck, disappearing into the grass within seconds. The first time he witnessed it, Hyuk sunk into such a silence he didn’t speak for two days straight. Somehow the sight of someone disappearing so completely shocked him speechless. In the end, it took a sharp metal slap from Zelo to snap him back from his thoughts.

Ravi was always trying to lift up the mood, sometimes succeeding in drawing a few chuckles out of Hyuk. But for the most part, they walked in silence, save for Zelo occasionally leaning over to whisper in Jongup’s ear, grinning wickedly, and Jongup giggling in reply.

“You sure you’re okay, kid?” asked Ravi for the thousandth time.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t _sound_ fine.”

“I’m fine.”

“All right,” said Ravi. He didn’t sound the least bit convinced. “If you say so, kid.”

“When this punk reaches level 10, I’m not gonna spoon-feed him anymore.” declared Zelo suddenly.

“I think the kid wants to do it himself anyways.” said Ravi with a sideways glance. “Level up, I mean.” For a second, Hyuk caught himself thinking Ravi wasn’t actually the big idiot he sometimes seemed to be.

“We’ll jump in if you get in trouble,” assured Jongup. He looked to Zelo. “Right?”

Zelo didn’t utter a sound.

“Well, I will, even if ya two suckers won’t.” promised Ravi. He glanced at Hyuk, then immediately looked away as soon as he saw Hyuk was returning the stare. Suddenly he began to inspect the mechanism of his golden gun-arm, although he’d already checked up on it ten minutes prior.

“Thanks.” said Hyuk. There was a tiredness in his voice, and a bitter undertone to everything he said – if he decided to speak at all. _I can’t wait to get out of this stupid game,_ thought Hyuk. _This isn’t reality, so what does it matter?_

Jongup stared at him with huge, concerned eyes.

_Stop staring at me like that,_ thought Hyuk, absurdly, _you’re not even real. You have no right to look worried. Or to show any other feeling, for that matter._

He started moving faster through the woods, the others soon to follow. As Hyuk had been advancing levels, their walking formation, with Ravi at the back and Jongup and Zelo in the front, slowly dissolved.

Listening to the woods’ background music, monotonous and ever-repeating, Hyuk caught himself wondering whatever had made him so immersed in this game in the first place.

It wasn’t as though the graphics were convincing. Actually, they seriously _sucked_. Hyuk had played more visually appealing games many times before in that small game room with his friends.

To be honest, Hyuk already knew the answer.

It was the people – _no, the game characters,_ he quickly corrected himself. _They_ weren’t reduced to pixels. In fact, they looked just like people of flesh and blood.And the way they talked and fought and laughed was so unique for each of them, and so detailed and sophisticated.

He suddenly caught himself staring at his companions. The way Jongup would glance at Hyuk every so often, nervous and confused. The way Zelo’s head made a metal _creak!_ whenever he turned it left or right. The way Ravi swatted angrily with his golden gun-arm at a passing bee (a single black pixel with two yellow stripes), his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

“Hey, I know I’m awesome and all, but staring is kinda rude, kid.” chuckled Ravi in another attempt to get Hyuk’s spirits up. “No, seriously,” he said, watching Hyuk’s blank expression, “you’re really not telling me what’s going on?”

“No.” deadpanned Hyuk.

Suddenly something dawned on him.

“Why do you have a sense of humour?” asked Hyuk. Ravi just looked baffled. “I mean, what you said just now. To give me that reply, you’d have to have _known_ beforehand what I’m going to do and say, so you can hardcode your sentences.” Hyuk spit all that in a single breath. “But there’s no way the code of this game has _all_ the answers to _all_ the questions I might ask written beforehand. No, it has so be some kind of AI, some heuristic algorithm or something...” Hyuk racked his head, ignoring everyone’s stares. All of the things he’d learned at his computer science classes (being the game kid, he was especially fond of those) suddenly rushed back to him. “But even that doesn’t explain it. It doesn’t explain why you’re so _complex_.”

After a second of silence, Ravi threw his head back and laughed.

“Weird kid,” he finally uttered, “what the hell was all that?!”

“Craaazy.” hissed Zelo lazily.

Jongup looked as though trying very hard to process what he’d just heard. However, at this point, Hyuk didn’t even care about whatever Jongup, or anyone else, realises they’re just a game character.

_Because even if that’s the case, they have no feelings anyways._

“Hey,” said Ravi. He wrapped an arm around Hyuk’s shoulders, pulling him sideways a little so they could talk in private. “I get ya might not wanna spill your guts to Zelo, but you can tell _me_. I’m not bad at listenin’, ya know.” He shrugged. “Not like I’ve got much else to do till we reach Hakyeon’s castle, ya know?”

The arm on his shoulder felt heavy but comforting. As always, Ravi avoided Hyuk’s eyes, but couldn’t quite hide his concern. “It pisses me off, ya know.” confessed Ravi. “Ya look like a dragon took a huge dump on ya head, but ya won’t even tell me what’s goin’ on.” The grip on Hyuk’s shoulder got harder. “All I’m sayin’ is, well, I won’t laugh at ya, whatever it is.” He smiled, and Hyuk suddenly noticed the dark pupils, the veined irises, the milky whites of his eyes, and their unusual shape, dropping at the corners. “’Kay, I won’t laugh _too_ much.”

“I’m gonna go level up.” decided Hyuk quietly.

“Say what, kid?!” exclaimed Ravi, loud enough to startle Jongup and Zelo. Both rushed over.

“What’s going on?” asked Jongup, glancing from Ravi to Hyuk.

“I’m gonna go level up. Alone.”

“But you’re only level 6!” Jongup got that big-eyed look he often had, except this time, it was fear, not curiosity. _No, an imitation of fear_ , Hyuk corrected himself. _Game characters can’t really be afraid!_

But it was _exhausting_. Correcting his own mind all the time, the mind that always seemed to assume the boys around him were _human_ , even if Hyuk knew otherwise. Being careful to always remember they were _just letters and numbers_ \- it was tiring and confusing and all of a sudden Hyuk knew, with a strong conviction, that he really couldn’t take it anymore.

“Wha-Hyuk?! Where the hell are you going?!” yelled Jongup at Hyuk’s retreating figure.

“What’s with that idiot?” wondered Zelo out loud.

“That stupid kid!!!” growled Ravi. Hyuk could hear his heavy footsteps behind him. Ravi seemed to be running as fast as the weight of his huge metal gun-arm would allow. Two sets of lighter feet echoed too on the matte brown-green surface of the woods.

But if there was one physical quality Hyuk had, it was speed. Slowed down by weapons and the mass of their own muscles, his friends soon fell behind and disappeared among the pixelised trees.

“What now?” wondered Hyuk to himself. Sure, the company of other fighters had many advantages, but Hyuk wasn’t about to risk his very sanity for their help.

For a while, Hyuk wandered the forest alone. After making sure his companions weren’t after him anymore, he sat down among a crowd of bushes, hidden from view. He used the map Himchan had given him. It opened over his vision, and he raised his hand in front of his eyes, tracing possible pathways with his finger. He opted to stay away from the castle, where Ravi, Jongup and Zelo would probably be headed. Instead, he’d turn completely the other way. His finger hovered over the cave, marked by only a picture and a question mark, when he heard a rustling noise.

“Map, close.” Hyuk managed to mutter. Thankfully, the map leaped aside to reveal the woods once again.

The eerie music that was always present seemed somehow more foreboding.

Hyuk huddled beneath the bushes, listening.

Another sound came, this time more distinguishable. A heavy footstep.

Then another one, louder.

_Should’ve know Ravi wouldn’t give up that easily_ , thought Hyuk. He got up from his hideout. Despite himself, he felt oddly glad that he had been found.

“Hey,” started Hyuk, “I, uh, I’m sorry I ran away like that,”, was Hyuk crying? “But I... I really can’t stay with you guys-”

Hyuk’s mouth froze mid-sentence. His hands shook, his hair stood on end, his entire body grew cold, cold, as though someone had mischievously slipped ice cubes into the back of his shirt.

The hooded man took a step forward. He reached behind him, to where his greatsword was strapped to his back.

The stranger’s voice was so quiet, soft and gentle, airy like a goddess’.

“You have something... that is mine.” his lips whispered.

“W-what?!” stuttered Hyuk. He clutched his sword, but it looked pathetically small compared to the monstrous blade the stranger had just pulled out.

“What do you even _want_?!” yelled Hyuk in frustration, desperately trying to muster some confidence. “And if this is about that princess and her stupid forehead, you can go rescue her or whatever, because _I don’t care_!!”

_You’re supposed to be getting revenge for Jongup!,_ something whispered in his mind, before he remembered _Jongup_ was just a line of code. _Just letters and numbers._

But even that phrase couldn’t help him now. Chanting _just letters and numbers_ in his head was simply not enough. The danger he was in, even though Hyuk knew it wasn’t real, simply _felt_ so real.

And the stranger’s sword looked so sharp in the faint starlight. Hyuk gulped.

Finally, Hyuk got the guts to attack, and he did so with a childish yell and a desperate blow of his knife-sword. He almost allowed himself to hope, but all hope was shattered when the stranger parried the move with ease, his counterattack throwing Hyuk three meters backwards and flat onto his back.

Quick as lightning, Hyuk scrambled onto his feet.

“You have something that is mine.” the stranger repeated.

At the very last moment, Hyuk ducked. The greatsword passed millimeters above his head, taking with it a few strands of Hyuk’s hair.

“You have something that is mine.”

“Is that all you can say?!” retorted Hyuk, more from frustration that anything. “What do I have? Here, take everything!” yelled Hyuk. He threw out his potions, his map, his coins, even his red beans.

But the unknown fighter kept walking forwards with huge, powerful steps. He stepped on a red bean, not even giving the items a second glance.

Just when Hyuk was about to surrender to his fate, it dawned on him.

“You want... my Chopper doll?!” he whispered hesitantly.

It was just too ridiculous to believe. “You want this?” said Hyuk, this time a little louder, awkwardly taking the doll out. He waved Chopper in the warrior’s face.

A soft gasp escaped the fighter. With a swish of his pale veined hands, he pushed back his dark hood back to take a closer look at the plushie. The stranger’s face was deathly pale, platinum blonde hair shockingly vivid, long eyes sparkling with delight and relief.

Before Hyuk could so much as blink, Chopper was snatched away from him.

Hyuk watched, completely bewildered, as the dark warrior, the most powerful fighter he had encountered, clutched the small plushie to his chest. He wrapped it tightly in his arms and slowly lowered his head, pressing his lips to Chopper's temple.

“...Ken...” he whispered, so tenderly and softly Hyuk wasn’t sure it even happened. He cradled the toy like a baby.

Hyuk just stood there stupidly, too confused to even move. “Huh?”

But with a swish of his black hood, the warrior disappeared into the midnight woods.

 

*** * * * ***

 


	17. Hyuk Sucks At Hide-And-Seek

Boss: ? (LVL=12, HP=562, MP=668, STR=23, DEF=15)

Boss: ZELO (LVL=45, HP=2753, MP=593, STR=55, DEF=79)

Ally: JONGUP (LVL=42, HP=2356, MP=284, STR=50, DEF=16)

Ally: RAVI (LVL=63, HP=4122, MP=3, STR=71, DEF=55)

 

*** * * * ***

 

“Someone took my Chopper away!” complained Hyuk. The toy seemed absolutely useless, and yet, it was with him ever since he had arrived into the game.

“What? Who?” frowned Hongbin, slowly chewing on a single red bean. He was sitting on a small rock while Hyuk leaned against a nearby tree. Lifelessly, Hyuk was plucking the square red petals of a pixelised flower and letting them spiral down onto the fluorescent grass. “Hey, are you quite sure you don’t have any more of these beans?” asked Hongbin hopefully.

“I used to have one more,” said Hyuk tiredly, “but that guy stepped on it. I can’t use it anymore. When I pick it up, the blue box doesn’t appear.”

“Oh.” said Hongbin wistfully. “Who _is_ that guy, anyways?”

Hyuk glanced up at him. “You’re the _tutorial guy_. You’re supposed to tell _me_ things – not the other way around!”

Hongbin chuckled, a little embarrassed. “Well, uh, I do know some things.”

“What kind of things?” wondered Hyuk.

“Well, for example, um...” For a while, Hongbin sat thinking. “Well, you know... losing that doll is bad, Hyuk.” Hongbin looked down at him, almond eyes worried. “I know that that’s really bad.”

“Will something bad happen to me?” asked Hyuk.

Hongbin considered that for a moment. “Well, rather than saying a bad thing will happen, maybe you could say a _good_ thing _won’t_ happen.”

“You’re really not going to tell me anything, are you?” protested Hyuk. “But I gave you a name!”

“I’m sorry, Hyuk,” muttered Hongbin, “it’s against the rules.”

“Are you real?” asked Hyuk suddenly.

Hongbin turned to face Hyuk fully. He stared into Hyuk’s eyes. For a few moments, he said nothing. His gaze was long and intense... and somehow sad.

“I don’t know.” he confessed. “But I could put the same question to you. Are _you_ real?”

Suddenly a voice came right out of nowhere, singing an upbeat pop song.

“Not again, dammit!” whined Hyuk.

“PARK HYOSHIN-NIM!!!” squealed Hongbin, waltzing off within seconds and disappearing among the trees.

“D*mn that Hyoshin guy, whoever he is.” cursed Hyuk into his chin. There were so many things he wanted to ask Hongbin. But now, he was left with no more red beans to summon him. He could find some more in the woods, he supposed, but they seemed to be very rare.

Just as Hyuk got up, there was a sudden weight at his back, and he crashed forward facefirst.

Drawn by instinct, he pulled out his knife-sword. Just in time too, since his opponent was halfway to slicing his throat open with a matched set of curved oriental swords, one in each hand.

Hyuk only had time to note that his attacker was a girl, before she sliced at his ribs, one side, then the other, then an upwards blow to his abdomen. Every time, Hyuk only managed to block at the last second, his knife-sword way too short to offer any kind of counterattack. The girl was unusually strong too, and just as fast as Hyuk.

Right when she had finally forced him onto his back and prepared her blades for the final blow, she halted. Her eyes froze, her mouth fell open, her back stiffened. But it lasted for only a moment, before she fell sideways, eyes closing, blood seeping through her ragged clothes.

Ravi reloaded his gun, then rushed over with huge steps.

“Ya alright, kid?!”

“Or did you have that totally under control?” suggested Zelo, approaching with a smirk, a metal _clang_ punctuating his steps. “You were just about to cut _her_ up, right, idiot?”

Jongup crouched next to Hyuk, inspecting him. “You okay? Say something, Hyuk!”

“Something.” said Hyuk, bitterly. “You shouldn’t have run after me. I don’t want your help.”

“Yeah, right,” said Ravi, obviously not buying it. “I know ya have pride, kid, but it’s kinda dumb to die because of it.”

Before Hyuk could protest, Jongup tucked a potion into his hand, while Ravi pulled him to his feet.

“What direction was it, again?” the gun-wielding boy scratched his head.

“You really don’t get it, do you?” said Hyuk. “Hey!!!” yelled Hyuk, trying to get their attention. “I’m _not_ coming with you!”

“Yup, I bet.”

“I’m completely serious!”

“Then we’re coming with _you._ Try stopping us.” retorted Ravi, still deep in thought. “Give me that map of yours for a sec, will ya? I kinda, uh, got a little lost following ya here.”

“We’re _lost_?!” asked Jongup incredulously.

“Lost or not,” said Hyuk, losing his patience, “I’m going.”

Jongup’s head snapped around. “Where?”

“THAT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!!” yelled Hyuk, loud enough for the entire forest to hear.

Ravi just stood confused, while Jongup looked genuinely hurt.

_WHY does everyone seem so real?!_

Perhaps they _were_ real. It was slim chance at best, but Hyuk still decided to give it a shot.

“Hey,” said Hyuk, suddenly trying to sound calm, “You never, like, happened to run across a game machine? And push a strange button on it? It was shaped like a robot, and...” Everyone’s faces stood confused and blank. “A game machine? Like a big bright metal box that you play games on? It might’ve been a long time ago.”

“Game machine? What’s a game machine?” asked Zelo. “Sounds cool. I want one.” He blinked his eyes, and that, like everything he did, made an ugly metal sound. “And what’s that part about a robot?”

“A big box?” Ravi’s eyebrows seemed to dance on his forehead. “There are, uh, some boxes of beer at the inn, I guess?”

However, Jongup didn’t look baffled at all. Rather, he was ecstatic.

“Do you mean you’re _finally_ going to tell us all about your homeworld?!”

“About what?” asked Ravi, now totally lost. Jongup was practically jumping from excitement. “Jongup, uhh, ya eaten them mushrooms again?”

“No!” defended Jongup. “It’s just that Hyuk is-MMPH!“

Rushing with a speed he didn’t know he had, Hyuk made it just in time to clamp down Jongup’s mouth with his hand. Even when he did, he could feel Jongup’s thin, soft lips moving against his palm in a futile attempt to speak.

“ _What_ are you doing.” growled Zelo.

Reluctantly, Hyuk let go. “Aish! You spit on my hand!”

“That’s your own fault, you know.” said Ravi. “Weirdo.” he added with a sigh. “Will you give me that map already?”

Defeated, Hyuk passed it over with a pout. He had intended to go alone – which was, by far, a much better option if he was to remain sane. But if the three fighters were _that_ intent on joining, there was nothing Hyuk could do – except beat them in a fight, which Hyuk was still unable to. _That girl almost killed me, and Ravi had her down with just a few bullets!_

“What level was she?” asked Hyuk, while the other three crowded around the map. “That girl.” He turned to point at the ground, but she was no longer there – her body had already faded, leaving nothing but a few potions behind.

“Twelve, if I remember right.” said Jongup, still focused on the paper in Ravi’s hand. It suddenly struck Hyuk how, when others looked at the map, they held it in their hands, like a person normally would – but when it was Hyuk, it opened over his own vision. _Looks like they really are only characters,_ concluded Hyuk. _Plus, they don’t remember anything like entering a video game, ever._

_They’re really just letters and numbers_.

Hyuk had thought he was prepared for this turn of events. He still thought he was indifferent, until he heard Jongup shriek, all three hurrying to Hyuk’s side.

“Hyuk, why... why are you... _crying_?” whispered Jongup.

Ravi had him in a tight hug. His clumsy metal arm was poking into Hyuk’s flesh, but for some reason Hyuk didn’t feel any pain.

“What’s up with ya, kid?” whispered Ravi, his hot breath all over Hyuk’s neck and ear. “Ya haven’t been yourself lately, and if ya do nothing and keep quiet about it, stuff just gets worse and worse.”

“That again.” said Hyuk. He suddenly couldn’t speak at all.

“Idiots always start doubting themselves halfway though.” commented Zelo. “I thought you were smarter than that, Hyuk.”

Something dawned on Hyuk at that moment.

For the first time ever, Zelo didn’t call him “idiot”. Not even “punk” or “brat”. Not even just “kid”.

He called Hyuk by his name.

And, for the first time as well, Zelo didn’t look him straight in the eye. Rather, he didn’t look at him at all, becoming strangely immersed in the colour of the ground.

“You’re a robot.” Hyuk stated simply. “You don’t have emotions or anything. Right?”

“Pfft,” hissed Zelo, and metal scraped over metal, “Of course I don’t.”

Jongup had an odd little smile on, as if watching a child lie about not eating ice cream while having ice-cream stains all over their shirt.

“Let’s get a move on, ‘kay?” called Ravi. “I think I know where we are now.”

“I really can’t shake you guys off, right?” asked Hyuk exasperatedly.

“Well, technically, you can,” said Jongup uneasily, “but we’ll always find you again.”

“You suck at hiding.” threw Zelo.

“But I sure wish ya wouldn’t disappear like that again, kid. ” said Ravi, checking the map one final time before handing it back to Hyuk. “It’ll just delay us more. We could’ve been fairly near Hakyeon by now.”

“Bet she isn’t even that pretty.” said a metallic voice.

Without turning around, Ravi arched his arm backwards at a bizarre angle and shot a few bullets at Zelo, the latter only chuckling and reflecting them off his metal body.

“As if you’ve ever actually seen her, ya stupid piece of metal.” spat Ravi over his shoulder. “And if you even _think_ of stealing her from me, I swear I’ll-”

“Not interested.” deadpanned Zelo. “I’m a _robot_ , you brickhead. Why would I care about women.”

“’Kay, maybe not _women_. Buuuut,” grinned Ravi mockingly, glancing back, “ya _do_ seem to be all about Jongup n’stuff-YAH!”

That initiated a fight that lasted for quite a while, with bullets flying everywhere and deafening _clang_ s of metal.

“They haven’t fought in a while. I was getting worried,” chuckled Jongup. Thrown backwards, Zelo hit a tree, some kind of pixelized fruit (only a brightly coloured square, really) bouncing off the robot’s head. Jongup laughed heartedly, before stepping towards the duo.

“Hey Zelo, you think you can handle both of us? Me and Hyuk, that is.”

For a moment, Zelo was puzzled.

“... I don’t like fighting _you_.” he finally answered, quietly, at Jongup.

“I’ll be alright,” encouraged Jongup. “Come on, Hyuk. I promise Zelo won’t kill you!”

Hyuk wasn’t so sure about that, but still found himself joining the fight.

They went easy because of him, Hyuk could tell at once. Zelo wasn’t even fully activated, his skin still in place, instead of the blue metal Hyuk knew lay underneath. But even in that reduced state, Hyuk was no match for him, despite Jongup’s help.

“Ya, we should really get going!” called Ravi.

By now, Jongup and Hyuk were both panting, Hyuk’s HP down to 10/100.

“I don’t want Hakyeon’s forehead to fall to another! So get moving!” yelled Ravi at them. “My girl is waiting!”

“Love is so d*mn stupid,” said Zelo. He extended a metal hand to pull Jongup up, then spent unnecessarily long checking up on him, finally fixing his hair (which was already perfect). Absent-mindedly, he ran his cold metal fingers up Jongup’s muscular arm. When Jongup started smiling warmly back at him, Zelo quickly jerked his hand away.

Only then did Hyuk remember his lost Chopper doll.

“Hey, I totally forgot! That dude who attacked Jongup appeared again!”

Ravi stopped in his tracks. Zelo stared at Hyuk so intensely Hyuk started to fear the robot was about to fire his lasers.

“I saw him, uh...” Hyuk really had no idea how long it had been. There was no way to measure time since it was always dark. “Anyways, he took my Chopper doll. I guess that’s what he was after when he fought Jongup near the village.”

“But isn’t that doll just a toy?” protested Ravi, tilting his head to the side.

“Yeah, well... I don’t know. Maybe it was just super important to him?” Hyuk suddenly remembered Hongbin’s words. “Right, it’s bad that I lost it... Am I supposed to get it back...?” he thought out loud.

“Why do you think it’s bad?” asked Jongup.

“The tutorial said s-,” he noticed everyone’s odd stares, “Uhh, I mean, I have a hunch. I just have a hunch. But, umm, a really strong hunch.”

“Did you see his face?” urged Zelo. He suddenly grabbed Jongup’s hand.

It took a while for Hyuk to remember – and even when he did, the details were blurred. At the time he’d seen the hooded warrior, Hyuk had been more focused on staying alive than his attacker’s features.

“He, uhh... He’s pale. Like, really pale.”

“Ya sure it’s a _he_?”

“Positive,” confirmed Hyuk. “Broad shoulders.”

“I need more data,” said Zelo angrily, “was there anything else?”

“Full lips... Black eyes? Yeah, black eyes. Blonde. Dark cloak. And this huge greatsword... it’s literally as big as Jongup.”

At that, Zelo wrapped him arm around Jongup’s waist, but seemed totally unconscious of it. He pulled Jongup into his own frame, in a sort of back hug. Ravi muffled his chuckles with his only hand.

“That’s all?” said Zelo, annoyed.

“Wait,” said Hyuk suddenly, “there’s one other thing.”

Zelo was fixed on him instantly.

“Umm, it probably won’t make a difference, though...” hesitated Hyuk.

“Say it.” Zelo commanded.

“Well, I mean, he was kinda beautiful.” Hyuk could feel he was blushing. Not to mention how stupid he suddenly felt. He tried to tell himself he was only stating facts. “Like, ridiculously beautiful. As in, drop-dead beautif-WHA, WAIT!”

Zelo stopped mid-punch. “Yeah? You have something else to say?“ His elbow creaked frighteningly, reminding Hyuk of the blade hidden beneath.

“Uh, yeah,” Hyuk stuttered, “he had a soft voice. Like, a _really_ soft voice. I almost couldn’t hear it.” Everyone stood silent for some reason. “I, uh, my ears might’ve been ringing though.”

Hyuk prepared to evade Zelo’s second attack, but it never came. All Zelo and Jongup and Ravi did was stand in silence. One would think they were at a funeral.

“What’s going on?” asked Hyuk, suddenly in panic. His friends had never acted this way before. Shocked, yes – Hyuk had startled them many times before. But never had Hyuk seen them with expressions like this.

Come to think of it, Hyuk had never seen them truly _frightened_.

Until now.

“Will somebody please tell me what this means?!” asked Hyuk. His voice came out as a panicked squeak.

Jongup, Ravi and Zelo looked to each other quietly, mirroring each other’s expression of horror.

“Leo.” Ravi finally whispered. His deep voice, usually so confident, started shaking. “It’s _Leo_.”

 

*** * * * ***

 


	18. The Biggest Traitor Ever

 

*** * * * ***

 

 

“Leo.” Ravi whispered. His deep voice, usually so confident, started shaking. “It’s _Leo_.”

“I guess we should’ve known.” muttered Jongup. “Even back when he attacked me, he was wearing a hood...”

“Only someone who can’t show their face would wear one.” deduced Zelo. “Like a traitor. Like _Leo_.”

“Um, who is this Leo guy?” asked Hyuk. “And whom did he betray?”

“You _really_ don’t remember anything, idiot?” asked Zelo. “ _Everyone_ knows who Leo is. He’s, like, the biggest traitor _ever_.”

Ravi hadn’t said anything in a while.

“He betrayed... Hakyeon.” said Ravi slowly. His eyes were hard and filled with anger. “Betrayed my beautiful Hakyeon.” Ravi’s jaw snapped, his hands curled into fists. “ _He_ is the reason she’s locked up in her own castle. _He_ is the reason she’s captured by her enemies. _He_ -”

Ravi couldn’t speak any more. Suddenly he lifted his gun-arm and fired at the nearby trees. For a moment, the woods’ background music was overwhelmed by rapid gunfire.

“Hey, HEY, calm down!” called Jongup, pulling Ravi’s arm.

“I _have_ to follow him.” decided Ravi. “I can’t just let him roam free. I can’t.” His eyes got darker. “He was her captain of guards, you know... once. And a childhood friend too.” Ravi’s voice was almost a growl, and Hyuk couldn’t help but shiver at his stare. It reminded Hyuk that, although Ravi was amicable among his friends, he would be really scary as an opponent.

“Why did he betray her?” wondered Hyuk.

“’Cause she’s totally hideous?” snickered Zelo, but luckily, Ravi was too immersed in his own emotions to notice.

Suddenly, Ravi spun towards Hyuk, deadly serious. “Which way did the traitor go?”

Unsurely, Hyuk pointed somewhere off to the west, praying he had remembered correctly.

Ravi took a deep sigh. Nervous, he liked his lips. “If any of ya don’t wanna get into this mess, it’s fine. I totally get it, and I won’t judge or whatever. I mean, it _is_ Leo-”

“Idiot. Do I look like a coward to you?” prompted Zelo bitterly. “I’m a robot, so It’s not like I can die.”

“But you can be dismantled, though-” protested Ravi. But when he saw the look of pure horror on Jongup’s face at the word “dismantled”, he decided to change the subject.

“Anyways, not like I can stop ya if ya wanna join. Just sayin, it’s gonna be dangerous.”

Zelo grinned like that was the best news he’d heard in ages.

“But... what are we going to do with Hyuk?”

Jongup had asked it innocently and with the best of intentions, yet Hyuk couldn’t help but feel angry at himself all over again - fed up and frustrated with his own inability to fight properly.

“Hmm... I guess we’ll have to hide da kid somewhere. The traitor got the damn doll, so there’s no more reason for the bastard to attack Hyuk anymore.”

“ _And_ I can defend myself.” claimed Hyuk. He wished he was as confident as he tried to sound.

 

 

*** * * * ***

 


	19. A Huge Kitten Fight

 

*** * * * ***

 

As the four walked west, the woods grew even darker. The lush green forest now turned to pine trees and bare rocks.

“Hey, ya hear that?”

Even without Ravi, everyone could hear it clearly – a loud, frivolous laughter, far more carefree than any fighter had a right to be.

 “The whole damn woods can hear him,” chuckled Ravi. “What the hell is he thinking?!”

“What an idiot.” said Zelo.

Suddenly, Hyuk had an idea. “Hey, I’m gonna go get ‘im.”

Ravi’s face froze, and Jongup looked doubtful as well.

“Hey, you said yourself that the guy must be a total idiot!” argued Hyuk. “Of course I’m not as skilled as you guys, but I can take down _one_ total idiot, right?”

“... Okay, kid.” said Ravi, eyeing Hyuk, still sounding unsure. “But scream if it gets ugly, okay?”

“Will do.” promised Hyuk.

He could feel three pairs of eyes on his back until he finally disappeared into the pine trees.

The laugher had now turned to chatter. Whoever it was, the person was obnoxiously cheerful, so much that Hyuk almost looked forward to slitting their throat. It didn’t seem right to Hyuk that anyone should be so happy in this forest, while Hyuk himself was so confused and scared most of the time.

But one thing seemed sure: the person laughing was definitely not a threat to anyone - except, probably, to themselves.

Finally, the forest opened up into a clearing. With a surprise attack in mind, Hyuk rushed into it confidently. He was barely a meter away from the person before he realized who it was.

Leo looked up at him from his spot on the forest floor.

“I, uh...” stuttered Hyuk, too bewildered to even be frightened. That loud laughter and obnoxious voice could not have been Leo’s. But there was no other person on that clearing.

Without a word, Leo lay down the Chopper doll he had been holding. He stood up and slowly pulled out the greatsword that hung behind his broad shoulders.

However, Leo didn’t move. He only stared at Hyuk intensely, so intensely Hyuk felt dizzy, yet couldn’t look away.

“Go.” said Leo. His tone was neither annoyed nor angry. His face betrayed no emotion.

And Hyuk almost obeyed, inching away from Leo and away from the clearing until he almost reached the woods again. However, then, something flashed inside Hyuk’s mind.

_How many times have I done this already?_

Ever since arriving into the game, Hyuk had backed up and backed away and let others save him. Never once did he truly fight – and the thought was driving him crazy, eating up at him a little bit at a time. _You’re a coward, Hyuk,_ a voice whispered to him every now and then. _Why are you so weak and useless? All you know is too mooch off others, to manipulate them so they would help you... You use your friends’ kindness again and again, and yet you refuse to acknowledge them as real!_

“THAT’S NOT TRUE!!!” screamed Hyuk at the sky. As though he’d lost his mind, he threw his body at Leo. In a second, Leo’s face turned from blank to confused, mouth a little ajar. The next thing Hyuk knew, he was on top of him, breathing into Leo’s pale face. He could only wonder how someone so beautiful could be so scary at the same time, before Leo rolled them over and tugged at Hyuk’s soft brown hair with his muscular arm. The two soon turned into a grunting, hissing, biting mess, rolling around the clearing like a pair of angry kittens. Leo’s face, even when contorted in fury, still shone with an impossible beauty – the sharp turn of his jawline, the lush, healthy cheeks, the shimmering black of his eyes.

Somehow, Hyuk got in the midst of a massive adrenaline rush bubbling in his veins that had him fighting with a strength he never knew he had.

But perhaps that was not enough. Suddenly Leo was on top of him again, and he pinned Hyuk’s wrists above his head, before Hyuk bit Leo’s forearm to free his hands and then grabbed Leo’s throat. A knee slammed hard right into the pits of Hyuk’s stomach. He clutched it in pain and rolled to the side, and Leo took that time to scramble to his knees and reach for his greatsword that was lying only a few inches away.

“STOP... uhh... STOP RIGHT THERE!!!” yelled Hyuk. His breath was coming in painful gasps. Hyuk’s HP ran lower than ever. The health bar in the corner of his vision turned from green, to red. An alarming BEEP BEEP BEEP resonated inside his head, probably signalizing he was about to die. _Is it game over for me?_

About to pick up his weapon, Leo suddenly froze, still as a statue. His black eyes fixed on the toy Hyuk was holding , the plush little Chopper doll.

It was completely insane, yet something was telling Hyuk that his idea would work. “Stop right there if you don’t want me to slice Chopper open.” He inched his knife-sword near Chopper’s throat.

Never in his life did Hyuk think he’d be holding a fluffy toy as a hostage.

Hesitating, Leo pulled his hand away from his weapon.

“On your knees,” Hyuk commanded. He was still panting though, so the words came out more as a plea than an order.

Hyuk knew full well that this wasn’t a real victory, and that Leo would beat him into a bloody pudding in a fair fight. But it felt so good not to be the loser, for a change.

“You items... huh... Give me your items.” breathed Hyuk, still struggling to catch his breath. _They might come in handy_. Something was telling Hyuk he wasn’t getting out of this game anytime soon. And if that was the case, he needed all the items he could find.

Silently, Leo put some potions and some bottles Hyuk didn’t recognise on the ground in front of him. He kept his eyes on the floor.

“Don’t... hurt ...” Leo whispered. His head snapped up, eyes still as dark and defiant as ever, but his voice was practically pleading.

_Is Leo begging for his life??_ Hyuk just couldn’t believe it.

“Don’t hurt him... please.”

“Wait, _him_? Who are you talking about?“

Reluctantly, Leo pointed at the doll Hyuk was holding. “Please... don’t hurt him.”

_What the! He’s totally nuts!!!_ thought Hyuk, incredulous. _He values a plushie over his own life?!_

“I don’t want to see you anywhere near me or my friends again _._ ” started Hyuk. Leo was staring at Chopper with such concern, it was almost disturbing. Hyuk wondered for a second if Leo was even listening. “And don’t even think about getting the doll back. If you promise me those two things, I promise I, umm, won’t hurt Chopper.”

“I promise.” whispered Leo softly, never talking his eyes off the toy.

Right then, Hyuk got an idea. An idea that was great, but also horrible at the same time. It was a dark, twisted thing to do, but it was undeniably tempting. Hyuk stood silent for more than a minute, pondering it, trying to stop his hands from trembling.

_What if I strike him down?_

He could do it right now. Leo’s greatsword was safely away, Leo’s attention was all on the Chopper doll. Hyuk could even throw his knife – from such a short distance, Hyuk might be able to hit Leo’s throat, or at least it would land somewhere in his chest.

Would that really be so wrong? Leo was a traitor, after all. In Zelo’s words, _the biggest traitor ever._ Perhaps Hyuk would ever be doing this virtual world a favour by getting rid of him. At least Ravi would be pleased.

And when he kills Leo, how many levels would Hyuk advance? Twenty? Thirty?

“Err, what level are you?” asked Hyuk, doing his best not to sound suspicious, even though his voice was quivering.

“Sixty.” answered Leo without thinking. He still anxiously stared at Chopper, barely even blinking.

Hyuk’s mind was overwhelmed. It was almost inconceivable, and yet, it was true – _If I kill Leo now, I might become even stronger than Ravi!_

And yet, the way Leo started at the doll, the way he pleaded for the doll’s life, somehow they touched Hyuk. Even if what Leo was thinking was indeed madness, then it was a kind sort of madness.

And Hyuk suddenly decided to respond with a kind madness of his own.

“Okay then. Umm, I’ll be leaving.”

Hyuk only saw the pure shock on Leo’s face, before Hyuk sprinted instantly back into the pinewood forest. He did not turn around even once, scared that Leo would attack him from behind. He ran and ran until he could run no more, then collapsed onto the brown floor.

Minutes ticked by.

“Inventory: Items: Potion x 10, Foreign Coins x 500, World Map. Key Items: Chopper Doll.”

After using a potion, Hyuk felt well enough to look for Ravi, Jongup and Zelo. But they were nowhere in sight. Hyuk even risked yelling their names, and his voice echoed scarily through the forest. Still, the area seemed deserted. _Where are they? That clearing wasn’t very far – shouldn’t they have heard the fight?_

Without much else to do, Hyuk took out the toy he had been through so much trouble to get. Chopper stared back at him with his blank beady eyes. But Hongbin said the toy would help, and Hyuk trusted him. Hongbin was the tutorial guy, after all.

_What’s taking Ravi and the others so long?_ thought Hyuk. He looked around him, and not far off, there was a hill that towered all over the surrounding forest. Hyuk got an idea.

Slowly, he made his way to the top of the hill.

Finally at the top, his breath caught in his throat.

 

*** * * * ***

 


End file.
